Involuntary Military Service Under the Radar

[babylonsister]

Involuntary Military Service Under the Radar

Thursday 21 May 2009

by: Sarah Lazare, t r u t h o u t | Perspective


Sgt. David Johnson returns from Kirkuk, Iraq, after having his tour extended due to stop-loss. A lesser-known form of involuntary military service is occurring in the Individual Ready Reserve.


"I felt like I was being robbed of everything," Matthew Dobbs said over the phone from his home in Houston, Texas. "I had visions of military police banging down my door and dragging me back to war."

Dobbs, a 26-year-old former soldier who served a tour in Afghanistan from 2003-2004, was recounting a story that has become familiar in the ongoing Global War on Terror. It is the story of a soldier who, after serving a tour overseas and being discharged from active duty, received involuntary orders to redeploy to Iraq or Afghanistan years later.

Dobbs was not a victim of stop-loss, the policy of involuntarily extending a GI's term of service, sometimes after multiple tours in combat zones. This practice has recently garnered widespread negative attention and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates claims that it will be phased out.

Rather, Dobbs was a victim of reactivation orders from the Individual Ready Reserves (IRR), a lesser-publicized form of involuntary service that has been fueling troop supply for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. While there has been a strong reaction to stop-loss, IRR recall has slipped under the radar, creating the illusion that the problem of involuntary military service has been solved.

The IRR is composed of troops who have finished their active duty service but still have time remaining on their contracts. The typical military contract mandates four years of active duty and four years in the IRR, but variations exist and an individual's IRR stint might be longer or shorter. IRR members live civilian lives, are unpaid and are technically required to show up for periodic musters. Many have moved on from military life and are enrolled in college, working civilian jobs or building a family.

The catch is that, at any point, IRR members can be recalled into active duty to serve in a "state of emergency." This policy has translated into the involuntary reactivation of tens of thousands of troops to fight the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since September 11, 2001, about 28,000 IRR members in the US Army have been mobilized, according to Maj. Maria Quon, Army public affairs officer. There have been 3,868 Marines involuntarily recalled and mobilized during that time, according to Major O'Connor, Marine Corps spokesman.

more...

http://www.truthout.org/052109R

[ProgressiveProfessor]

1. The article is total crap...

Dobbs is no "victim". He signed up for 8 years, 4 active, 4 IRR. He knew what he did when he did it. Its not hidden nor covert. IRR has been there for years. Its not involuntary and its not coerced. Some of the feedback on it shows that as well.

There are enough valid issues to work that we do not need to create crap...