BoatBanter.com - View Single Post - Any ready-reservists here?

(Gould 0738) wrote in message ...
Hopefully, the majority of those called will be Bush supporters. Let
them share in the joys of Bush's nasty little war.

That's awful. Nobody should be drafted, Bush supporter or not.

If this weren't an election year, we'd be seeing a draft. Instead, we're
calling back
40 and 50-year old guys who have already been honorably discharged, may even
have a military pension, and who have certainly earned the right to live the
rest of their lives without excessive government intrusion. Businesses,
careers, families, etc all go on hold.

Not so fast - nobody is being recalled that doesn't have an obligation
to be available. While I am not entirely familiar with retired
reserves as I didn't retire, people in the individual ready reserve
have not been "honorably discharged" from military service if they
still have a commitment. You can be "honarably discharged" from
active duty or regular reserves and still have commitment to the
individual ready reserve (commonly called inactive reserve).

You dont get your *final* discharge until all of your service is
complete. I have four DD214s (discharge papers) as I was discharged
from active duty in 1988, went to the air guard, was put back on
active duty in 1991, was discharged from active duty in 1991 back to
the air guard, then discharged from the guard in 1994. But I still
had IRR on my obligation. It was over a year later before I got my
final honorable discharge saying I was done.

Talk about giving aid and comfort to the enemy. Don't even say "lberals
do....."
When we make a loud public announcement about having to send the press gang to
round up the toothless old grey hairs to continue the war in Iraq, that has to
encourage the hell out of the enemy. It sounds like we're running out of
manpower.

"[T]oothless old grey hairs"?

I would bet (though I have not tried to verify this) that most of the
IRR is younger than me. Under 40. A lot are probably in their late
20s.

More of the same non-logic from our government. We can increase discretionary
government spending by 30% in 3 1/2 years *and* have a huge tax cut.
We can occupy a large country, say that doing so presents a credible threat to
other bad actors that we stand ready to invade their countries too, *and* cut
military benefits while avoiding mandatory enlistments (and apparently
scrambling to plug the holes in the front line with any available bodies).

If we hope to kill every Muslim on the planet, as many suggest, we are going to
need a lot more people than we have.
(I would say, eliminate the terrorist individuals instead of the "terrorist
race/religion", and we can do that without
expanding the war or imposing universal service).