Brown requests duty in Afghanistan

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: The Boston Globe

WASHINGTON — Senator Scott Brown wants the National Guard to send him to Afghanistan for training this summer, saying yesterday the experience would offer a fuller understanding of what American troops are facing.

A lieutenant colonel, Brown is required to complete two weeks of training each year. He has been in the Army National Guard for 30 years but never served in combat or trained in a war zone.

“Doing so will help me to better understand our ongoing mission in that country and provide me firsthand experience for my duties on the Senate Armed Services, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs committees,’’ the Massachusetts Republican said in a statement.

The senator did not detail what he expects to do during the training and declined to say whether his request has been granted. In a brief telephone interview, he said he will be “going over at some point to do some missions.’’ A spokesman for the Massachusetts National Guard declined to comment on the status of his request.

Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2011/05/03/brown_requests_duty_in_afghanistan/

[Deep13]

1. Brown desperate for re-election. nt

[no_hypocrisy]

2. My friend's son was killed while serving in Afghanistan. Does Brown truly understand

what he's getting himself into?

Fact-finding? Go to the Pentagon!

[forty6]

4. No, it's not like that, Brown is a Lt Col in the National Guard and his unit...

has been called up.

So he's making news and putting his public relations out there, instead of just accepting his assignment and going like the 2 million other Americans who have been called to war in the last 10 years. If he's going, he wants front page headlines in every Mass newspaper.

And YES, I really worry, worry NOT that he will be killed, but that he will be re-elected when he returns, just a few months before his next election in 2012.

I would like Deval Patrick, the Dem. Governor of Mass, to appoint an INTERIM SENATOR to represent Mass while Brown is gone. But I doubt that can happen.

[no_hypocrisy]

6. Thanks for the clarification.

[Freddie Stubbs]

10. Patrick can only appoint if there is a vacancy

He din not appoint an interim Senator when Ted Kennedy was absent for months due to illness.

[forty6]

18. Yeah, sadly, I know the rules... but BROWN IS VACANT!!!

So, technically, there has been a "vacancy" since he was elected.

Don't wish Brown any bad fortune in Afghanistan, but the thought crosses my mind.

[atreides1]

16. Brown is a military lawyer

Just like Lindsey Graham....

[SteveG]

21. Beau Biden, sitting Attny General of DE was called up and served

a full tour. Yes, the VP's son.

[Myrina]

3. ... of course he does, now that bin Laden was killed elsewhere ...

... typical Republican, get brave AFTER the fight is over & he can come out from under the sofa.

[Angry Dragon]

5. SOOOOO, he has served in the National Guard for 30 years

Serves on three committees that deal with war and security and does not know what is going on??

[rurallib]

7. I suspect the Army will treat this much as Britain treated Prince Harry

when he was assigned over there.
Only my speculation, mind you.
Having a high value target in the midst of regular soldiers makes everyone less safe.
Therefore, the Army will reject his request.
And Brown can play up the fact that he tried to go on the campaign trail.

[MineralMan]

8. Request Denied, Lt. Col. Brown. (nt)

[hack89]

12. Why? He has served since he was 19

He should be able to go - he certainly wouldn't be the first elected official to serve in a war zone.

[MineralMan]

13. Because he just wants to go temporarily, and the unit

is there for a longer period. "Needs of the service," you know. Continuity of leadership. Why let him make political hay?

[hack89]

15. Because it would simply trigger an unseemly political cat fight

that would make Obama look petty? What valid answer could the army give that wouldn't appear partisan and political? You would be writing political ads for the GOP.

[DCKit]

9. And how many tens of thousands of dollars will it cost U.S. to put him up at the Hilton?

How many service member's lives would be risked to protect him?

Grandstanding POS.

[freshwest]

11. Is there such a thing as being declared AWOL from the Senate? What a freak.

[Geoff R. Casavant]

14. One does not just "go" to Afghanistan.

This is for his annual two-week training. The folks I know who have gone on active duty in Afghanistan (for a one-year stint) say you have 3 or 4 weeks of training stateside before you head over. Inoculations, small-arms and rifle fire practice, etc.

Now, if his unit has been called up, he can certainly resign his Senate seat and go, or request a waiver from the call-up because of his Senate duties and expect to be discharged shortly thereafter.

[forty6]

19. I think you have something there... I like the "resigns his Senate seat"...

part of what you said... like THAT a LOT!!!!

Let him go...I say...good luck in Afghanistan, Scotty!!!

[Ian David]

17. If he resigns and joins Blackwater, he can go to Afghanistan any time he wants. n/t

[jwirr]

20. Does Afghanistan have a green zone where he can go to be safe? nt