Why is this necessary when the Iraqis speak the universal language of love? Seriously, your post suggests to me that it would have been a good idea to ramp up for a while which would have allowed UN Inspectors more time to confirm that there were no WMD. For the millionth time Mr. Bush -- what was the rush? Were you bored chasing bin Laden?
Bingo--my questions were more-or-less rhetorical. But hey, we're supposed to blindly support our troops--not actually look out for their best interests, keep an eye on the provisions for their success and well-being, or monitor the need for their being in harm's way.
Okay - last time something like this came up, the response was "If they didn't want it, they should have volunteered." I couldn't tell from the article whether this was Part of the Deal, or whether this was something like out of "Starship Troopers" where, if the government so chose, the only way out of the military was in a box or a bottle. I mean...I thought Lincoln freed the slaves. What up?
They did, sorta. They stop-lossed MI soldiers shortly after 9/11 and it hasn't been lifted yet. They have been offering special pay and incentives to get more Arabic linguists, but......they can't pay what the other governmental agencies can. Middle East linguists are a hot commodity. Another problem is these kinds of 'soft-skills' are concentrated among the National Guard and Reserves. There's a little rule that says that if a Guardsmen serves a year you're suppossed to give him at least 6 months of civillian life before he can be re-activated. Many of these Arab linguists go over and serve their year (or 18 months) and then get some ridiculously high offer to go back as a civillain contractor. (I've heard as much as $80-90k for 6 months) And the Guard has to let them go....
It was only a few days after 9/11 that they found what a big problem they had. It turned out that our translating services were, reportedly, compromised. If not by AQ then by people at least sympathetic to their native countries. I have a friend who has a responsible position at one of those places stopper4 mentions and can tell you they've been working their butts off to get people trained. What they've found is that it's very hard to get native Arab speakers security clearances.
In the agreement everyone signs with the military upon entering you enlist for x number of years divied between the active and reserve forces. 4 of each is standard I believe. In unique circumstances this can be fiddled with. The Navy allowed David Robinson to serve 7 or 8 of his years in the inactive reserves, so if they reallllly needed it they could have recalled him from the Spurs to help screw in lightbulbs in high-ceiling buildings. Once your 8 years are up the military can only grab you through conscription, unless your on active duty at the time.
Well, I'm appalled at my ignorance. I thought the reserves were something people explicitly signed up for at the end of their enlistment.
The first enlistment is for a number of years that include active duty and inactive reserve time. I did 3 years active duty that was followed by 3 years inactive reserve. Inactive reserve means you are free to live your life unless they want you in Iraq. No weekends or 2 weeks each summer required.
My wife, and a few of her friends, speak Arabic. None of them are US citizens, tho. In all seriousness...you should tell your friend to start recruiting East Africans. Swahili is a descendant of Arabic, so people who can speak Swahili can pick up Arabic pretty quickly.
we told you so, its worse then Vietnam, with only difference in Vietnam we lost 58,000 lives and in Iraq over 850 I taught we learn our lesson in Vietname, but we didn't
during my time, a volunteer was 4 yrs active and two inactive but in the 60's and 70's basically nobody got call from the inactive list
I agree, Cunha. If only we could find a way to get 57,000 more of our guys killed things would be so much better.
This was, what, two ********ing seconds after you posted about liberals ruining your precious Drudge thread? You really super-sized your McDonald's Whiny Bitch Meal tonight, didn't you?
Thanks. Through advice given on the internet, America's problems are solved. Swahili . . . . . . Dave giving advice to the Military . . . . . . . .
When I joined the Army Reserve in 91', still in high school mind you, I signed up for 6 years of active reserve and 2 years of inactive reserve obligation. Like mentioned before, these two additional years are spent without going to any drill or training. I extended my enlistment a couple of times until I declined to re-extend in the summer of 01'. One mentality that was prevalent pre-911 in the reserve branches was that of: It'll never happen to me. That is: a war would never occurr where mass reserve deployments would be needed. Gulf War I was considered a fluke and we all know how relatively easy that war was for our forces. I remember sitting down with my unit's chain-of-command who didn't want to lose me and explaining to them how I felt that people didn't take their military committments seriously, how serious it was to be in the reserves. Just about everyone looked at me like a had 4 heads. That was July of 01'. I got a call the other day from a reserve person saying my name was still on a list as a Individual Ready Reservist. I set him straight, real quick.
Two days ago, I hired a woman who serves in the Navy reserves. She confessed to me after I gave her the job that potential employers dropped her like a SARS potato once they found I out she was in the reserves. She could be called up next month and throw a wrench in my plans, but she was the best applicant and I wasn't about to discriminate against her for serving in the military.
That's an honorable thing to do. I know countless stories of employers being a big stress on part time soldiers. I was lucky that my bosses were always supportive but I know of others who had real nightmares.
We just got a guy back last month after being over there for over a year. It wasn't easy going without him for that long considereing we're a small shop. Things really got tight when another individual broke his ankle and another was out on vacation. Fortunately, we work for an organization that is really supportive of the military. The best part was having him come back to work and seeing that we didn't touch his workstation. The worst part is knowing that he still has three months left in the Guard, involuntarily extended mind you, and that the unit that replaced his is due to rotate out soon. Knowing that he signed up for it doesn't change the fact that it flat out sucks.