I mean really. How stressed for manpower are they, to call this guy back after 13 years out of enlisted duty and 8 years out of the reserves?
The military is a bureaucracy. His name came up on an automated list and people are following orders as mandated by written regulation.
Nothing much to see.
I have a running bet with a couple friends at school that Airman will be called up sometime between now and the end of next year to go overseas somewhere, not necessarily Iraq. Now that Bush is a lame duck, and has a large margin in Congress, he can do whatever he wants. I’m predicting NoKo or Iran.
Robin
FWIW it was hard to find a good job during the Vietnam years too.
IMO it works well for the armed forces recruiters. Lots of manpower not working makes the armed forces look like a good deal.
The fact that the guard and reserves were called up in and of itself is not surprising but their being forced to stay in after their tour is up I believe answers your question.
I always thought that the guard and reserves were the first line of defense and were to be used until the regular army could get there.
Not so I guess.
As I understand it, Guardsmen were intended for civil defense and the Reserves were to take the jobs of stateside active-duty personnel who were deployed.
I could be wrong, though.
Robin
You are wrong.
I know he’s your husband and all, and I assume he knows about the bet, but isn’t that a bit callous?
RNATB, concerned for A_D and anyone who might get sent off to war.
Going back over the threads I have replied to recently I was apalled to see my reply to MsRobyn. To me it comes across as a smartass reply and that was not my intention. I was simply trying to keep things in IMHO territory. I apoligize Robin and I will explain my answer.
The National Guard has always been designed as a fighting force to augment the active duty army. I am too lazy to look up when it changed from the old state militia system to the modern National Guard but it was fully in effect by WWI. Do you remember the movie, “The Fighting 69th?” James Cagney’s character was fictional but the others weren’t. Father Duffy, Joyce Kilmer and “Wild Bill” Donovan (Medal of Honor winner and later the head of the OSS in WWII) were portrayed in the movie and were actual soldiers in the 69th. The 69th Inf Regt was part of the 42nd INF Div, New York National Guard. The 42nd was also in WWII and it liberated Dachau among other things. The 29th Inf Div was the first unit on the beach at Omaha. The 29th was a National Guard unit from Maryland and Virginia. There were many other Guard units deployed during both world wars. The National Guard was also used in Korea and Viet Nam though I don’t know any units off the top of my head. By the time of Viet Nam the National Guard divisions were thought more as reserve follow on forces to be used during a Soviet invasion of Europe.
The old strategic theory about the use of the National Guard in wartime was called “capstone”. Brigades from the NG were assigned to active duty divisions. For instance the 1st Cav Div had three Brigades and knew that in time of war they would be assigned a particular Brigade to fill out the division. This is now changing with the concept of Brigade size “units of action”. This is a change to the whole army not just the Guard. I am not yet aware of all the changes coming but the information is available through public sources.
To answer your question about civil defense, that is an additional duty not the main mission of the National Guard. My Brigade has infantry, cavalry, armor and artillery battalions. Does that sound like civil defense? We used to train one weekend a year on civil defense. The NG is in a unique position in that when we take or oath we acknowledge the president and our governor as the commander in chief (chiefs?). The governor has the power to order us on active duty for emergencys such as floods or for Homeland Defense. The power of the president trumps the governor as was proved during the 50s civil rights struggle. The rest of the year we trained on our soldier skills. As an armor officer I trained to fight an enemy armed with tanks and APCs. Definately not civil defense. Of course along with the combat arms soldiers there are all of the support personnel needed to sustain combat operations.
The Reserves are run a little different. I have never been in the reserves so I won’t go into detail. The Reserves tend to be geared more towards combat support and combat service support. This is because during time of war the need for support personnel increases greatly. They are not there to take over stateside duties(although they very well might), they are there because whenever there is combat there is always a bigger need for truck drivers, mechanics, fuel handlers etc.
I hope that clears things up.
Not really. I’m not exactly chomping at the bit to go anywhere, least of all North Korea or Iran, but you do remember a certain “Axis of Evil” speech, don’t you? Well, nothing has changed with regard to those countries, has it?
I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to be eating either sand or kimchee in the next four years. Not at all. Hell, I’ll bet you a fiver. I’m already betting my ass. Five bucks is a small price to pay to stay out of a war.
Thank you. We all appreciate it.
You covered it pretty well, but the reason why the Reserves focus more on combat is because that is their reason for being, if I may be so blunt. The Guard, barring any sort of Federal activation, is on Title 32 orders generated by the National Guard Bureau. The Reserves are always on Title 10, Federal active duty, and as a result are not under the authority of the Governor of their respective states at any time. The Guard, on the other hand, has the additional state responsibilities. Their job is not necessarily to go to war, but to augment the Active Duty and Reserves (with a few exceptions, one of which is my unit-I go every time something blows up, but that’s because they get us to do it on the cheap).
I must say, though, that the lines are blurred, and they get blurrier every day. I think that the roles will be even less defined as time goes on, and within 5 years or so will exist as separate entities simply because of bureaucratic inertia.
On the Army side the argument has been to move the Guard over to a combat support role from a combat arms role. This argument has been going on for at least 10 years. It doesn’t look like it is going to change anytime soon.
As Airman said, not really. It’s one of the realities of being a or married to a Guardsman or reservist. It’s a bit cynical, to be sure, but it’s a reality.
Robin