COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Leaving Military: Stop-Loss
Reservist Fighting His Fifth War Call-Up
Amy Driscoll, The Miami Herald
July 8, 2007
After serving in Afghanistan and three times in Iraq, an Army Reservesergeant from Port St. Lucie recoiled at still another deployment.
Erik Botta believes he's done right by his country.
Days after 9/11, as a young Army reservist, he volunteered to go
to war. He was soon in Afghanistan.
The next year, he was sent out again, this time to Iraq, part of
a Special Operations team.
In the next two years, he was sent to Iraq again. And again.
He thought he was done. But now, the Army wants Sgt. Botta one more time.
The 26-year-old Port St. Lucie man has been ordered to report to
Fort Jackson, S.C., on July 15 for his fifth deployment. And that has
compelled Botta, a first-generation American who counts himself a
quiet patriot, to do something he never thought he'd do: sue the Army.
"I'm proud of my service," he said. "I never wanted it to end like this."
Nearly seven years into his eight-year commitment to the
reserves, the personal costs are higher for Botta. He could lose his
home. His job at Sikorsky, working on the Black Hawk military
helicopter, could be on the line. He's halfway to his electrical
engineering degree, planning a career in defense work, but his
professors say he'll suffer a significant setback if he is deployed.
He doesn't mention the danger another deployment would bring, but his
wife and parents do.
"I'm proud of being in the Army," he said. "They taught me
responsibility. They taught me maturity. And they gave me a good
toolbox of technical skills to work with. I think I'd be more
valuable to my country at this point by being here, getting my degree
and working at Sikorsky."
In a lawsuit he expects to file this week in federal court in
Florida, Botta says he will ask for an exemption or delay so that he
can complete his engineering studies. He will also ask the court to
prevent the Army from requiring him to report for duty until the
legal questions are settled.
His attorney, Mark Waple - a West Point graduate and former
military judge advocate who practices in Fayetteville, N.C. - says
Botta's case shows that the Army is inconsistent in its decisions
when selecting reservists for involuntary mobilization, over and over.
"This is an arbitrary decision by the Army Human Resources
Command with no rational basis," Waple said.
The Consequences
Deployment now would mean that he could no longer afford his
house - his wife would probably have to move in with her parents.
Plans to start a family would be on hold. He would probably have to
repeat some engineering courses after his return, and he might even
lose the job he just landed about a month ago. Previously, he worked
at Pratt & Whitney in the Joint Strike Fighter and Raptor engine programs.
"This is no peace protester," Waple said. "I wouldn't have
touched this case with a 10-foot pole if it was. He's put the boots
on and been in combat."
Although Botta knew there was a risk that he would be called to
duty again, he assumed that it was very slight, given his four combat
deployments, pursuit of an engineering degree and employment with
military contractors, he said.
"The world pretty much stopped when I got the notice," said
Botta, weighing each word. "I've sacrificed a lot for the military. I
didn't want to end with litigation, but I feel I've done my service
to my country. I've done what I signed up for in more ways than one."
The Army doesn't agree. It turned down one appeal, with another
pending but unofficially denied. Last year, it granted Botta a
287-day delay, pushing his deployment date to this month, after an
inquiry by U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.
"This is something we're starting to see more of," Bryan Gulley,
Nelson's spokesman, said about repeat deployments. "It's one of the
reasons Nelson has been saying we have to stop relying so heavily on
the [National] Guard and the Reserve."
Army spokeswoman Maj. Cheryl Phillips issued a statement Friday
regarding Botta's case, saying in part that the Army evaluates "each
request independently to determine if the mobilization will cause
undue hardship for the soldier or the family. We appreciate the
sacrifice our citizen soldiers and their families make when called to
active duty."
The Army has granted 87 percent of delays requested by soldiers
- most are 90 days or less - and 54 percent of exemptions, the
statement said. It did not comment on Botta's case, but the Army said
in a letter sent to him regarding one of his appeals that he did not
"meet the requirements for a hardship exemption/discharge ."
Botta joined the reserves in 2000 and asked to be activated in
2001 - "I felt like I had to do something" after 9/11, he said - and
his tours of duty have lasted up to eight months. He left active duty
at the end of 2004.
Under his current reporting date, he might not even complete the
semester; classes end in August.
Attorney Waple says the Army has granted an exemption in at
least one similar case, in 2005. A 24-year-old North Carolina
enlisted Army reservist with two combat tours under his belt - in
Iraq and Kosovo - was involuntarily mobilized while attending
community college in Raleigh, pursuing a degree in chemical engineering.
He had completed five of his eight years in the service, Waple
said. The man's first appeal was denied, but after Waple filed a
second appeal, he was given an exemption and honorably discharged, Waple said.
Botta's case may be even stronger. He has completed more years
of service and more combat tours, has a job in the defense industry
while pursuing his engineering degree, and was granted a 287-day
delay already, Waple noted.
Botta has tried hard to avoid a suit, Waple said, filing every
appeal available within the Army's justice system. Botta and his wife
have sent letters to everyone from Sen. Nelson to the White House.
His professors and employers have sent letters, too, on his behalf.
"It's an awkward thing for any serviceman," Waple said. "He has
a very strong sense of responsibility and duty to serve."
In his own letters to the Army, Botta notes that he is attending
school on the GI Bill, maintaining a 3.9 grade-point average, and is
grateful that he can use his Army skills in his work with military
contractors.
"If I was to go back to the Army at this juncture in my life, I
could very well lose my house and be in considerable debt for years
to come," Botta wrote. "I am proud of the fact that I can still
continue to serve my country with the knowledge that I have acquired
from the U.S. Army."
The Army's response during the appeals, Botta said, has been
"minimal communication. "
Carlos Botta, his father, a naturalized U.S. citizen from
Argentina, said he applauded his son's military service - until now.
"He served in Afghanistan. He served three times in Iraq. The odds
are getting slimmer and slimmer for him. He might get hurt. Don't you
think he has served the country enough already?"
Wife's Concerns
Botta's wife, Jennifer, who married him between Iraq stints,
said she can't face the idea of his returning to combat. Losing their
house, painful as that would be, is the least of her worries.
"He's been over there four times. There's only so many times you
can go over without something happening... ." Her voice trailed off.
During his deployments, she said, she would watch television
news reports about bombings and then count the hours until he called.
"My cellphone was in my hand 24 hours a day," she said. "I never let it go."
For Erik Botta, who keeps his hair military-short, the last few
months have played out as a struggle between his battle-hardened
loyalty to the Army and an abiding sense of what's right.
"We were in a wartime situation," he said. "I did what they
asked me to do. I went over and did it. And then when I was leaving,
they told me I could leave. They told me to get on with my life, and
I did. Now it seems they've changed their mind."
But he doesn't regret his service - at all. "I'm proud to be in
the Army, and I'm proud - cheesy as it might sound - I'm proud to be
an American."
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