Holy Crap - I Got Yer Back Door Draft Right Here

[kpete]

Holy Crap - I Got Yer Back Door Draft Right Here
by Oregon guy
Tue Apr 04, 2006 at 08:51:35 PM PDT

......... I read something just now which is pretty damn scary, if you are currently in the military or recently left active duty.

This is a new Army plan for "transformation" (I hate this word) of the Inactive Ready Reserve into a force which resembles a personnel pool for the Active Reserve Component.

The plan is detailed in an Army news release which is on the AKO ("http:us.army.mil" Army Knowledge Online) site, and which is behind a password wall to the rest of you.

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, April 4, 2006) – Individual Warriors will be the new label for Soldiers serving in the Individual Ready Reserve.

Simultaneously, the new name will lead to a cultural shift away from the unstructured group of inactive individuals into a cohesive group of Soldiers who are trained, aware and ready to augment Army missions when called upon.

Secretary of the Army Francis J. Harvey endorsed the move to reset and reinvigorate the IRR through several programmed initiatives to transform the Army’s leading prior-service talent bank.
............
“While the mission of the IRR is to provide a pool of previously trained Soldiers who are ‘individually ready’ for call-up, our culture and past management of the IRR has made it difficult for many to accept that call-ups will become common practice,” said Maj. Nadine Kokolis, a mobilization officer in the Army’s G-1.

Oh, fuck.

Translated from the original Weasel: We're changing the IRR into something that looks a lot like the Reserve because the Reserve is running on fumes. Yeah, it isn't the IRR because the IRR as you have known it is going to cease to exist. Instead every knucklehead who signs on the dotted line is signing up for a full EIGHT YEARS, minimum, unless we can find a way to fuck with that as well.

more at:
http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/read.php?story_id_key=8783
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/4/4/235135/6247

[annabanana]

1. They will do anything for personnel

to put in harm's way.

If you put your name on anything besides your 1040, YOU VOLUNTEERED!

[acmejack]

2. Well we are just going to have to keep to keep that from happening!

Aren't we? Ain't no way!

Join us!Veterans for Peace

[boobooday]

3. Individual Warriors

The newest Orwellian turn of phrase. Combined with this: "call-ups will become common practice" it sends chills down the spine.

[Neil Lisst]

4. translation: if you're IN the military, you ain't gettin' out before 2009

[MADem]

5. OK, read this article I will cite below, and TELL me that we are not

in the very SERIOUS manpower crunch to which you allude:


Citing a lack of personnel and resources, U.S. Army Europe has canceled this year’s Land Combat Expo, a weeklong Army trade show and development event held annually in Heidelberg, Germany.

The event, which includes seminars, equipment and new technology exhibits, was scheduled to be held in September. Last year’s crowd was estimated at 10,000 attendees over the three-day event.

No decision has been made regarding a future date for the expo, which began in 2002, according to a USAREUR release.

“Because of deployments, transformation activities, and other missions, USAREUR’s operations tempo is too high to devote personnel and resources to the planning and setup for the expo,” the release states, adding that much of the targeted audience for the event will be busy with training when the expo was to roll around this fall....

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=36231