GIs forced to reenlist

[CheesalaIsGood 0]

GIs claim threat by Army

 

Soldiers say they were told to re-enlist or face deployment to Iraq

 

By Dick Foster, Rocky Mountain News

September 16, 2004

 

COLORADO SPRINGS - Soldiers from a Fort Carson combat unit say they have been issued an ultimatum - re-enlist for three more years or be transferred to other units expected to deploy to Iraq.

 

Hundreds of soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team were presented with that message and a re-enlistment form in a series of assemblies last Thursday, said two soldiers who spoke on condition of anonymity.

 

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The effort is part of a restructuring of the Army into smaller, more flexible forces that can deploy rapidly around the world.

 

A Fort Carson spokesman confirmed the re-enlistment drive is under way and one of the soldiers provided the form to the Rocky Mountain News. An Army spokesmen denied, however, that soldiers who don't re-enlist with the brigade were threatened.

 

The form, if signed, would bind the soldier to the 3rd Brigade until Dec. 31, 2007. The two soldiers said they were told that those who did not sign would be transferred out of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team.

 

"They said if you refuse to re-enlist with the 3rd Brigade, we'll send you down to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, which is going to Iraq for a year, and you can stay with them, or we'll send you to Korea, or to Fort Riley (in Kansas) where they're going to Iraq," said one of the soldiers, a sergeant.

 

The second soldier, an enlisted man who was interviewed separately, essentially echoed that view.

 

"They told us if we don't re-enlist, then we'd have to be reassigned. And where we're most needed is in units that are going back to Iraq in the next couple of months. So if you think you're getting out, you're not," he said.

 

The brigade's presentation outraged many soldiers who are close to fulfilling their obligation and are looking forward to civilian life, the sergeant said.

 

"We have a whole platoon who refuses to sign," he said.

 

A Fort Carson spokesman said Wednesday that 3rd Brigade recruitment officers denied threatening the soldiers with Iraq duty.

 

"I can only tell you what the retention officers told us: The soldiers were not being told they will go to Iraq, but they may go to Iraq," said the spokesman, who gave that explanation before being told later to direct all inquiries to the Pentagon.

 

Sending soldiers to Iraq with less than one year of their enlistment remaining "would not be taken lightly," Lt. Col. Gerard Healy said from the Pentagon Wednesday.

 

"We realize that we deal with people and with families, and that's got to be a factor," he said.

 

"There's probably a lot of places on post where they could put those folks (who don't re-enlist) until their time expires. But I don't want to rule out the possibility that they could go to a unit that might deploy," said Healy.

 

Under current Army practice, members of Iraq-bound units are "stop-lossed," meaning they could be retained in the unit for an entire year in Iraq, even if their active-duty enlistment expires.

 

A recruiter told the sergeant that the Army would keep them "as long as they needed us."

 

Extending a soldier's active duty is within Army authority, since the enlistment contract carries an eight-year obligation, even if a soldier signs for only three or four years of active duty.

 

The 3rd Brigade recruiting effort is part of the Army's plan to restructure large divisions of more than 10,000 soldiers into smaller, more flexible, more numerous brigade- sized "Units of Action" of about 3,500 soldiers each.

 

The Army envisions building each unit into a cohesive whole and staffing them with soldiers who will stay with the unit for longer periods of time, said John Pike, head of the defense analysis think tank Global Security.

 

"They want these units to fight together and train together. They're basically trying to keep these brigades together throughout training and deployment, so I can understand why they would want to shed anybody who was not going to be there for the whole cycle," Pike said.

 

But some soldiers presented with the re-enlistment message last week believe they've already done their duty and should not be penalized for choosing to leave. They deployed to Iraq for a year with the 3rd Brigade last April.

 

"I don't want to go back to Iraq," said the sergeant. "I went through a lot of things for the Army that weren't necessary and were risky. Iraq has changed a lot of people.''

 

The enlisted soldier said the recruiters' message left him troubled, unable to sleep and "filled with dread."

 

"For me, it wasn't about going back to Iraq. It's just the fact that I'm ready to get out of the Army," he said.

 

Soldiers' choice at Fort Carson

 

WHAT THE FORM SAID

 

• "Elect not to extend or re-enlist and understand that the soldier will be reassigned IAW (in accordance with) the needs of the Army by Department of the Army HRC (Human Resources Command) . . . or Fort Carson G1 (Personnel Office).''

 

WHAT IT MEANS

 

• Soldiers who sign the letter are bound to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team until Dec. 31, 2007.

 

• Soldiers who do not sign the letter might be transferred out of the brigade and possibly to Iraq.

 

 

 

http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/ar...3185596,00.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah, you kinda had to figure it was gonna come down to this.

 

Assholes.

[Guest SP-1]

Somehow, this is Bush's fault.

[Jingus 0]

Weird thing: I only know two people who've been to Iraq. One is a cousin of mine who's still stuck in Falluja, where a bunch of his squadmates were recently maimed by a roadside bomb, and despite having chronic nightmares his return home has been pointlessly delayed by red tape; the other one is an indy pro wrestler who's a friend of mine, and actually wishes he could go back to Iraq, because he's so bored with homefront Army life and "had better internet connection in Iraq" than he does now and spent most of his time playing Halo.

[Highland 0]

Somehow, this is Bush's fault.

As the Commander in Chief (and if this story is true) then yes it is fault. Bush isn't the Second Coming, he does have his flaws, you know

[snuffbox 0]

Somehow, this is Bush's fault.

As the Commander in Chief (and if this story is true) then yes it is fault. Bush isn't the Second Coming, he does have his flaws, you know

How can a man appointed by God have flaws?...

[Slayer 0]

Because God has flaws too

[Justice 0]

Somehow, this is Bush's fault.

As the Commander in Chief (and if this story is true) then yes it is fault. Bush isn't the Second Coming, he does have his flaws, you know

As Commander-in-Chief, he has to keep tabs on every piss-ant junior officer who talks shit like this to his men? Wow, the Presidential powers have really expanded...

[Guest MikeSC]

Somehow, this is Bush's fault.

As the Commander in Chief (and if this story is true) then yes it is fault. Bush isn't the Second Coming, he does have his flaws, you know

As Commander-in-Chief, he has to keep tabs on every piss-ant junior officer who talks shit like this to his men? Wow, the Presidential powers have really expanded...

Well, since Rove has the same power as God, you'd think he'd know such things.

-=Mike

[teke184 0]

Somehow, this is Bush's fault.

As the Commander in Chief (and if this story is true) then yes it is fault. Bush isn't the Second Coming, he does have his flaws, you know

As Commander-in-Chief, he has to keep tabs on every piss-ant junior officer who talks shit like this to his men? Wow, the Presidential powers have really expanded...

Well, since Rove has the same power as God, you'd think he'd know such things.

-=Mike

And you know that's true because Rove + r = Rover, which is the name of a dog, and dog spelled backwards is God...

[Guest CronoT]

Somehow, this is Bush's fault.

As the Commander in Chief (and if this story is true) then yes it is fault. Bush isn't the Second Coming, he does have his flaws, you know

As Commander-in-Chief, he has to keep tabs on every piss-ant junior officer who talks shit like this to his men? Wow, the Presidential powers have really expanded...

Well, since Rove has the same power as God, you'd think he'd know such things.

-=Mike

And you know that's true because Rove + r = Rover, which is the name of a dog, and dog spelled backwards is God...

That makes about as much sense as anything Mike ever says.

[Guest MikeSC]

Somehow, this is Bush's fault.

As the Commander in Chief (and if this story is true) then yes it is fault. Bush isn't the Second Coming, he does have his flaws, you know

As Commander-in-Chief, he has to keep tabs on every piss-ant junior officer who talks shit like this to his men? Wow, the Presidential powers have really expanded...

Well, since Rove has the same power as God, you'd think he'd know such things.

-=Mike

And you know that's true because Rove + r = Rover, which is the name of a dog, and dog spelled backwards is God...

That makes about as much sense as anything Mike ever says.

Which puts it WAY ahead of your usual bilge.

-=Mike

[Guest CronoT]

Somehow, this is Bush's fault.

As the Commander in Chief (and if this story is true) then yes it is fault. Bush isn't the Second Coming, he does have his flaws, you know

As Commander-in-Chief, he has to keep tabs on every piss-ant junior officer who talks shit like this to his men? Wow, the Presidential powers have really expanded...

Well, since Rove has the same power as God, you'd think he'd know such things.

-=Mike

And you know that's true because Rove + r = Rover, which is the name of a dog, and dog spelled backwards is God...

That makes about as much sense as anything Mike ever says.

Which puts it WAY ahead of your usual bilge.

-=Mike

At least I'm not dumb enough to compare Karl Rove to The Almighty; the devil, maybe, but not God.

 

Remember that question of mine you never answered, Mike? You just did, and in the exact way I knew you would. See you after your lobotomy.

[Guest MikeSC]

At least I'm not dumb enough to compare Karl Rove to The Almighty; the devil, maybe, but not God.

 

Remember that question of mine you never answered, Mike? You just did, and in the exact way I knew you would. See you after your lobotomy.

And sarcasm, still, is lost on you.

 

I'm not even going to bother. You're not going to hijack this folder with your trolling.

-=Mike

[Guest CronoT]

At least I'm not dumb enough to compare Karl Rove to The Almighty; the devil, maybe, but not God.

 

Remember that question of mine you never answered, Mike? You just did, and in the exact way I knew you would. See you after your lobotomy.

And sarcasm, still, is lost on you.

 

I'm not even going to bother. You're not going to hijack this folder with your trolling.

-=Mike

If I'm a troll, then by your own estimation, you must be an ogre.

 

What's wrong Mike? Not used to talking to someone with a good dose of common sense?

[CheesalaIsGood 0]

So far no vote of support for our soldiers from our right wing friends here at TSM. Wow, I guess the best way to REALLY support OUR good men and women of the armed forces IS BRING THEM HOME! Now, it seems more and more of them want to come home. Who would deny them? The terrorists?

[2GOLD 0]

If all the soldiers leave Iraq, then we truly blew it.

 

The soldiers aren't coming home. Kerry won't bring them home either. This royally sucks but there is nothing they can do now.

 

And the Pentagon barely listens to the White House. The only time they listen is "deploy" and "pull back", otherwise they look at the White House like they are speaking Martian.

[Vyce 0]

At least I'm not dumb enough to compare Karl Rove to The Almighty; the devil, maybe, but not God.

 

Remember that question of mine you never answered, Mike? You just did, and in the exact way I knew you would. See you after your lobotomy.

And sarcasm, still, is lost on you.

 

I'm not even going to bother. You're not going to hijack this folder with your trolling.

-=Mike

If I'm a troll, then by your own estimation, you must be an ogre.

 

What's wrong Mike? Not used to talking to someone with a good dose of common sense?

Oh good lord.

 

You don't even have the good sense to realize who actually started with the ad hominem attacks in this thread. do you?

[Guest SP-1]

At least I'm not dumb enough to compare Karl Rove to The Almighty; the devil, maybe, but not God.

 

Remember that question of mine you never answered, Mike? You just did, and in the exact way I knew you would. See you after your lobotomy.

And sarcasm, still, is lost on you.

 

I'm not even going to bother. You're not going to hijack this folder with your trolling.

-=Mike

If I'm a troll, then by your own estimation, you must be an ogre.

 

What's wrong Mike? Not used to talking to someone with a good dose of common sense?

Oh good lord.

 

You don't even have the good sense to realize who actually started with the ad hominem attacks in this thread. do you?

I don't think so.

 

It's kind of sad, really. I was hoping more for an, "LOL" reaction because I was addressing the lower levels of partisanship.

 

But it was lost in translation, I guess.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Hell, all they'd need to admit to their supervisors that they are raving homosexuals, They'd get out of the service real fast.

[snuffbox 0]

Both Bush and Cheney are in favor of cutting V.A. benefits so nothing that this regime does to the soldiers surprises me.

[CheesalaIsGood 0]

Both Bush and Cheney are in favor of cutting V.A. benefits so nothing that this regime does to the soldiers surprises me.

Sad but true. Which was my best reason for not going to Iraq in the first place. We have a long history of not treating our soldiers with the respect and benefits they deserve post-war.

[Guest MikeSC]

Both Bush and Cheney are in favor of cutting V.A. benefits so nothing that this regime does to the soldiers surprises me.

Sad but true. Which was my best reason for not going to Iraq in the first place. We have a long history of not treating our soldiers with the respect and benefits they deserve post-war.

Just checking --- a Kerry supporter is saying this?

-=Mike

[Vyce 0]

The polite thing to do, Mike, is to just sit back and laugh quietly at their inadvertent irony.

[SuperJerk 0]

Considering the way Nam vets like Kerry, Cleland, and McCain have been treated by Bush...

[Guest MikeSC]

Considering the way Nam vets like Kerry, Cleland, and McCain have been treated by Bush...

Hmm, Bush said nothing negative about Kerry's service.

 

Or McCain's.

 

Or Cleeland's. Hell, he gave Cleeland a cushy job. And, God, Cleeland should be laughed at for his problems. You'd think a guy who nearly blew himself up due to his own sheep ineptitude would have grown a skin by now. But, I guess being a sandy vagina gave him a career.

 

MEANWHILE, Kerry accused Vietnam vets of war atrocities, met with the enemy during the war, and had his words used against Americans being tortured.

 

Yeah, that's almost comparable.

-=Mike

[2GOLD 0]

Considering the way Nam vets like Kerry, Cleland, and McCain have been treated by Bush...

 

I'm sorry, but including Kerry in that list is a slap in the face to McCain.

 

Kerry slapped his fellow soldiers in the face as well so he doesn't deserve to be included with those men. I don't care if he did go to Nam.

 

And no, I am not a damn Republican and I'm not voting for the Texas Slim Jim.

[snuffbox 0]

Uhm Mike?...

 

John Kerry was the only vet that testified that day in Congress back in the day...he spoke of quotes from OTHER soldiers...have you even seen that testimony?

[Guest MikeSC]

Uhm Mike?...

 

John Kerry was the only vet that testified that day in Congress back in the day...he spoke of quotes from OTHER soldiers...have you even seen that testimony?

And he accused ALL Vietnam vets of the atrocities, claiming that they were widespread and common. Not to mention the atrocities, such as burning villages, that he claimed he committed while on Meet the Press.

 

His words caused more deaths than any life he saved.

-=Mike

[SuperJerk 0]

His words caused more deaths than any life he saved.

How?

[Guest MikeSC]

His words caused more deaths than any life he saved.

How?

Ask the POW's how nicely things were when the N.Vietnamese could use Kerry's smears while torturing them.

 

They're the ones who managed to survive it.

-=Mike