Guard troops hard hit by "stop loss" order.

[trof]

Army Program to Keep Some Soldiers on Duty
By JOHN J. LUMPKIN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Thousands of soldiers who had expected to retire or otherwise leave the military will be required to stay if their units are ordered to Iraq or Afghanistan.

Initially, the expanded order will affect several units about to go to Iraq: most of the 2nd Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division, from Fort Drum, N.Y.; the 265th Infantry Brigade of the Louisiana National Guard; the 116th Armored Brigade of the Idaho National Guard; the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment of the Tennessee National Guard, and the 42nd Infantry Division's headquarters staff, from the New York National Guard.

There has been criticism of the program as contrary to the concept of an all-volunteer military force. Soldiers planning to retire and get on with their lives now face more months away from their families and homes. In an opinion piece in Wednesday's New York Times, Andrew Exum, a former Army captain who served under Hagenbeck in the 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan, called the treatment "shameful."


"Many, if not most, of the soldiers in this latest Iraq-bound wave are already veterans of several tours in Iraq and Afghanistan," he wrote. "They have honorably completed their active duty obligations. But like draftees, they have been conscripted to meet the additional needs in Iraq."
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&e=1&u=/ap/iraq_us_military

This sux on a number of levels.
I don't think many guard troops or their families will be voting repug this November.

[leftchick]

1. shameful indeed....

I know the draft is coming regardless of what my repuke neighbor says. Cripes! ALL the signs are there for it if dimson* is reselected. You would have a LOT of koolaid not to see it. Apparently my neighbor has.