Jeruselem
29-09-2004, 14:21
The US army having a bit of trouble getting your reserves to defend the nation? :p
Thirty per cent of former US soldiers who have been called back to duty involuntarily to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan have failed to report on time, and eight have been declared AWOL, the US Army said.
The Army's problem with mobilising soldiers from the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR), a seldom tapped personnel pool, is another sign of the difficulty the Pentagon is encountering in maintaining troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan.
So far the Army has mobilised 3,664 people from the IRR to active duty, but 1,085 have not reported on time to the Army post to which they were assigned, said Julia Collins, a spokeswoman for the Army Human Resources Command.
The Individual Ready Reserve is made up of 111,000 people who have completed their voluntary Army service commitments and have returned to civilian life but remain eligible to be mobilised in a national emergency.
Many have been out of the active military duty for years.
Eight of those recently ordered back to active duty have been listed as absent without leave, or AWOL and could face military criminal charges as deserters, Ms Collins said.
In addition, their names will be entered into a national criminal investigation database and they could be arrested if, for example, they are stopped by a police officer for a routine traffic violation, Ms Collins said.
About 85 per cent of those who did not show up on time have formally requested that the Army exempt them from duty due to health issues or some other hardship, she said.
Most of the others have requested a delay in their reporting date.
Most exemption requests are likely to be rejected, Ms Collins said.
This marks the first large scale mobilisation from the IRR since the Gulf War of 1991.
The Army, stretched thin as the United States fights wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has struggled to maintain force levels in those war zones.
It has relied heavily on part-time soldiers from the National Guard and Reserve, and last spring kept thousands of soldiers in Iraq months longer than they had been promised.
It also has issued "stop-loss" orders preventing tens of thousands of soldiers designated to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan from leaving the military if their volunteer service commitment ends during their deployment.
-- Reuters
Source
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200409/s1209239.htm
PS - This is ABC news from Australia.
and
Mt St Helens playing up! That supervolcano :eek:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200409/s1208800.htm
Thirty per cent of former US soldiers who have been called back to duty involuntarily to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan have failed to report on time, and eight have been declared AWOL, the US Army said.
The Army's problem with mobilising soldiers from the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR), a seldom tapped personnel pool, is another sign of the difficulty the Pentagon is encountering in maintaining troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan.
So far the Army has mobilised 3,664 people from the IRR to active duty, but 1,085 have not reported on time to the Army post to which they were assigned, said Julia Collins, a spokeswoman for the Army Human Resources Command.
The Individual Ready Reserve is made up of 111,000 people who have completed their voluntary Army service commitments and have returned to civilian life but remain eligible to be mobilised in a national emergency.
Many have been out of the active military duty for years.
Eight of those recently ordered back to active duty have been listed as absent without leave, or AWOL and could face military criminal charges as deserters, Ms Collins said.
In addition, their names will be entered into a national criminal investigation database and they could be arrested if, for example, they are stopped by a police officer for a routine traffic violation, Ms Collins said.
About 85 per cent of those who did not show up on time have formally requested that the Army exempt them from duty due to health issues or some other hardship, she said.
Most of the others have requested a delay in their reporting date.
Most exemption requests are likely to be rejected, Ms Collins said.
This marks the first large scale mobilisation from the IRR since the Gulf War of 1991.
The Army, stretched thin as the United States fights wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has struggled to maintain force levels in those war zones.
It has relied heavily on part-time soldiers from the National Guard and Reserve, and last spring kept thousands of soldiers in Iraq months longer than they had been promised.
It also has issued "stop-loss" orders preventing tens of thousands of soldiers designated to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan from leaving the military if their volunteer service commitment ends during their deployment.
-- Reuters
Source
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200409/s1209239.htm
PS - This is ABC news from Australia.
and
Mt St Helens playing up! That supervolcano :eek:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200409/s1208800.htm