To many of our marines out there who have served their country honorably and have been discharged, it looks like you might wanna dig into the back of the closet, bring out those old boots and dust 'em off. That's because there's a report in USA Today entitled Marines to recall troops on involuntary basis for Iraq, Afghanistan. Key word there being "involuntary" which is ironic in that the United States proudly boasts an all voluntary military. As noted in the article, reactivation has become necessary due to the shortfall in volunteers currently being experienced.
As we've all been prepped by our president, the war on terror is to be a long, long war. As a result, Marine Col. Guy A. Stratton, chief of marine manpower mobilization, has warned marines may continue to tap into the reserves for the duration of the long, long war on terror.
The article concludes by saying some of those subject to recall will be engineers, intelligence, dancers, bicycle repairers, elevator installers and marine biologists. Apparently the marines have a glut of infantrymen and rifle sharpshooters.
For those who have fulfilled their active duty military obligations and face possible recall, think of it as Karma for your president who just didn't see fit to complete his Texas champagne reserve unit duties during Vietnam. SEMPER FI!
9 comments:
marine dancers? hmmm, guess there will be a lotta fancy footwork required (to avoid being part of the involuntary recall). Semper Feh! -- D.K.
hmm, I guess that means the Village People will be back...I saw this article too..and thought WTF???? hmm I guess there is the Draft by Christmas...I better start applying for jobs in Canada..."Involuntary"?....America better wake up...now.
baby bush is crazy...
as i believe that this will create even more protesting against the war - hell, even the marine's i know are pissed at their commander in chief...and most of the marine's he wants to recall were never in battle - they were peace-time soldiers
hey, that's the solution - let's give baby bush his long deserved vacation in Iraq - let him stay there for a week or two and see how fast our troops are recalled..
ok, i can dream!!
Let me get this straight...we need marines who can dance through Fallujah to the bike shop to put in the new elevator and ride a dolphin out of it? That not only would be a feat of engineering, but far more intelligent than I can comprehend.
~~from the halls of montezuma~~
Man, I can't wait for November. Dr. King (god rest him) had a Dream. We need a Plan.
How's this? We retake at least the House, hopefully the Senate, bounce Cheney and Bush both outta office and into the pokey, and let President Pelosi start bringing our troops back home.
And put an end to this back-door bullshit.
Wow, I like everyone's alternative world's daydreams this has evoked.
Mel, particularly compelling is your parallel universe daydream of a Pelosi presidency. But I'm thinking with her possible ascendency to the Oval Office, you might have difficulty getting a "Guilty" vote in the impeachment process from Hillary with her '08 ambitions on then President Pelosi's office.
Dada, I believe most of these Marines being recalled are getting a real-world lesson : “read the fine print”. In their youthful rush to become mean, green fighting machines, few pay much attention to the pages of legalese in the enlistment contract. Nor does our government negotiate individual terms.
So it was that, after serving two summers in the Marine Corps Platoon Leaders Class and a three-year stint, including a tour in Viet Nam, I was ready to rejoin civilian life. I was told I had to wait several more years for my “expiration of obligation” to be able to formally resign my commission (it’s not automatic).
Additional “fine print” issues which many will be facing have to do with the conditions enabling our government to disallow veteran’s health benefits, and the biggie for everyone : the upcoming renegging on the social security benefits most baby-boomers were counting on.
I can only hope the lesson in reading fine print is not a fatal, last lesson to any of the troops being recalled.
EK
I find it interesting that the Bush administration is doing such a thorough job of sabotaging themselves. They cannot possibly be so stupid that they don't realize the implications of America's falling approval ratings for Mr. Bush. The regime is being compacent beyond all reason.
What I think will happen is this: If (and this is likely) the country falls apart soon, the marines won't have to worry about being recalled. They will merely have to take care of number one in the devistation that will follow. But, if the country lasts long enough for us to get too deeply involved in the REST OF THE WORLD'S business, the country will have no reserves left. Our military will completely fall apart. It cannot go on with no one involved in it. People are wising up (finally) and seeing the republican bullshit we are all steeped in at. We are wading through it, but many (especially here in St. George, Utah, conservative/mormon/white/straight/republican/meth capital of the nation) are wandering around with clothespins holding their nostrils shut. If they can't smell it, it's not there, right?
Okay...Dada I had a talk with a Ex-Marine at Starbucks this past week- and he said something real interesting- he said that the clause about the Involuntary Callback ( okay I am not wording this perfect- but I don't speak Marine), he said that the Call back part is to be ONLY used if there is War on OUR soil- ie. it could have been invoked after 9-11, but that it is NOT applicable in a war that we premeditated mess like Iraq....oh..and BTW he did indeed say this is WORSE than Vietnam...so whatcha think ?
EK, Nina, and Enigma:
Enigma, I don't know anything about this callback "only if under attack on our own soil" but that sounds interesting. As EK points out, there's a lot of fine print made intentionally fine that goes unread under pressure to sign on the bottom line.
I know after my discharge from the military, there remained an additional 3 years of inactive reserve with the slight chance I could be reactivated. (Which was far, far slimmer than today's all voluntary military's involuntary recalls.)
And Nina, good to see you. Hope your summer went well. Sadly, I admit, you sound as pessimistic as I.
Interestingly, I recently read a treatise on the poor performance of Israeli troops against the Hezbollah in Lebanon. Apparently, an occupation army's combat capability and effectiveness is degraded when their primary duty was that of an occupation army, which Israel has been for many years now. (And the U.S. had been for the past 3+.)
But if true, not to worry about our gov't learning from that...just as they're ready to take on Iran, having learned nothing from the two current wars their already losing.
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