Reservists, Guard see deployments drag on

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~6439~1600403,00.html

The sign in the windshield of the military truck rumbling down a road in Iraq said what many National Guard members and reservists from across the nation are thinking: "One weekend a month, my ass!"
For many, the old days of training one weekend a month and two weeks a year are history. The so-called Weekend Warriors have a new routine: months and years away from lives and families, in hot spots flaring up around the world.

Today, more than 188,000 Guard members and reservists, including more than 2,500 from Colorado, have been mobilized to help in the global war on terrorism. It's the largest mobilization since the Korean War, according to the Congressional Research Service.

The time reservists contribute has increased dramatically, from 1 million active-duty days in the mid-1980s to 13 million days just before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and to 41 million days last year.

--snip--

The sign in the windshield of the military truck rumbling down a road in Iraq said what many National Guard members and reservists from across the nation are thinking: "One weekend a month, my ass!"
For many, the old days of training one weekend a month and two weeks a year are history. The so-called Weekend Warriors have a new routine: months and years away from lives and families, in hot spots flaring up around the world.

Today, more than 188,000 Guard members and reservists, including more than 2,500 from Colorado, have been mobilized to help in the global war on terrorism. It's the largest mobilization since the Korean War, according to the Congressional Research Service.

The time reservists contribute has increased dramatically, from 1 million active-duty days in the mid-1980s to 13 million days just before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and to 41 million days last year.

[legin]

1. A good bit of article

Throughout the Cold War, many of the specialties needed to fight a war, such as security, intelligence, transportation, logistics and civil affairs, were switched from active-duty soldiers to reservists. It meant the nation could not go to war without help from the citizen soldier.

Since Sept. 11, only 18 percent of the reserves' 1.2 million personnel have been called to active duty - but their tours have lasted several months.

"You have reserve forces designed for a world that no longer exists," said Dan Goure, vice president of the Lexington Institute, an Arlington, Va.-based think tank. "They are structured to fight World War II."

Goure says a big portion of the Guard is made up of heavy-combat units that are virtually undeployable because it takes too long to send them anywhere. At the same time, its specialized units are being used over and over for lengthy duty in scattered, faraway places.

[legin]

2. Not a nice bit

Retired Air Force Col. James Callard, a combat veteran of Desert Storm in 1991 ... says ...

"Our whole new national doctrine of a permanent global war on terrorism and pre-emption (ousting regimes before they attack us) has fundamentally changed the role of the reserves and the Guard. How much of the new burden the reserves and Guard are going to pick up, I don't know."

[Nottingham]

3. What worries me! Is WHERE is US defenses!

If all the troops are in Iraq aren't we like open Season here!

:bounce:

[InkAddict]

4. Say, how's this for a great photo-op

http://federalvoice.dscc.dla.mil/federalvoice/020130/reunion.html