COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Leaving Military: General
Army allows Reserve officers to leave rather than go to war
By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY
Dec 20, 2005
Almost
two-thirds of the Army officers in a special Reserve program have been
allowed to resign rather than go to war, the Army has disclosed. The
265 officers are among 410 reservists who had orders that likely would
have sent them to Iraq or Afghanistan.
Faced with growing unrest among soldiers called back to active duty
from the rarely used Individual Ready Reserve, the Army took the
unprecedented step last month of granting a way out for officers who
had received orders for duty but did not want to go: They could resign.
That option has not been granted to enlisted soldiers who also have
been called back to duty from the Ready Reserve. Eighty remain in open
defiance of orders to appear. Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, an Army
spokesman, said the Army may soon take action against them.
The possible repercussions range from less-than-honorable discharges to declaring them AWOL or deserters, Hilferty said.
The Ready Reserve is a pool of 110,000 inactive troops — officers
and enlisted men and women — who still have contractual
obligations to the military. Enlisted soldiers often join the Ready
Reserve to finish out an eight-year minimum obligation of service after
being on active duty. Officers do the same.
Many of them remain in the Ready Reserve for years beyond the
eight-year minimum in order to retain rank, earn promotions and receive
an Army pension. Some never expect to serve in war.
An Army worn thin by the demands of Iraq and Afghanistan began a
phased, involuntarily call-up of 7,380 Ready Reserve soldiers in June
2004.
Slightly more than half have served. About 20% have been excused for
reasons such as finances, family or health. Hundreds more either could
not be reached or simply ignored their orders.
To end some of the confusion, the Army has decided to give special
notice to 12,093 officers who are in the Ready Reserve and have
completed their minimum time of service but have not yet been asked to
report for duty. They will be discharged unless they choose — in
writing — to remain a reservist and accept the chance of being
called back into wartime service.
This archive consists of a topically organized selection of
articles culled by members of the Counter-Recruitment List Serve from printed
publications and web sites. The archive is not complete. We have chosen
material relevant to the work of