..I am truly hoping that this is a major misunderstanding - if not, somebody's for the chop. EFL.
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. 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.
| Being reassigned to another unit is not a threat... |
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 Korea option isn't the same as going to Iraq. But the likely unit of reassignment will be up for Iraq, because that's where most of the maneuver units in the Army are rotating... |
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.
| Soldiers are always reassigned in accordance with the needs of the Army. Period. Soldiers are accomodated if it can be done, but mission comes first, especially in war time... |
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.
| That's what I said, except for the part about directing 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.
| In other words, it's something they'd try not to do... |
"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."
| Most of the officers and cadre NCOs I work with at Aberdeen are either retirees recalled to active duty or reservists who've been called up and stayed on active duty. One sergeant had been retired for 18 years before accepting retiree callup. We have a lietenant colonel who brings an oxygen tank to work with him. The Army, unlike all of its members, realizes we're at war, and they're filling the support positions to allow the young, healthy guys to man the maneuver brigades. What they're obviously trying to do with 3rd Brigade Combat Team is to bring all the release dates in line so that the unit will be formed an demobilized as a single entity. There won't be new guys to watch out for throughout most of its existence. I don't know if it's good policy or not — it's not my job — but I can think through the steps necessary to make it happen. |
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.
| You do your three or four years and then you're in the reserves — subject to callup — for the remainder of the time. |
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. 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.
| You've done your duty when your commitment is up. |
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. |