My knowledge on the subject is entirely from TV and movies, but a story on the radio today made me wonder about this. The story was about some officer or other who’s being looked at in relation to alleged mistreatment of a particular prisoner at Guantanimo and is on the witness list for the courts martial of a couple of the Abu Ghrib dog handlers (don’t remember his name, sorry). Anyway, he wants to retire but the Senate has asked the military not to allow him to do so because he may still be brought up on charges.
The questions are:
how much freedom do officers have, assuming they’ve fulfilled whatever initial contractual obligation they had to the service (e.g. x years in exchange for college tuition), to resign their commissions or “retire” (and is there a difference between the two concepts)? Although there are probably few to no draftees left at this point, does it make a difference if they were drafted vs voluntary enlistment? Do enlisted personnel have any similar option for leaving the military?
how much if any power does the Senate (or the House for that matter) have in requiring that a particular officer not be released from service?
how much power does the military have to level charges at civilians for alleged criminal acts which took place while the civilian was in uniform? Does that power differ based on whether the crime would also be a crime if done by a civilian?
That’s not true. You can retire or simply leave after your term of enlistment unless stop-loss in in effect, which is currently not the case. My enlistment is up next March, and were I to choose to leave I could do so without any problems, unless they reinstitute stop-loss for my AFSC.
Maybe what t.bonham is thinking of is service “for the duration of hostilities”, which AFAIK was last used during WW2. Stop-loss is different, as you mentioned. It’s also different from a quickie recall-from-reserve shortly after mustering out of active duty: enlistees incurs an 8 year total service obligation,as a combination of (X) years in active duty or in a drilling Guard/Reserve unit, plus (8-X) years in the Individual Ready Reserve, and thus are subject to recall if needed for that time (I almost was for Desert Storm).
With the scant information at hand I can’t really see why the Senate would be specially concerned with not allowing the officer to retire – after all, if he DID commit any crimes while in the service he CAN be tried for them after he leaves, and IIRC if convicted he can forfeit pension and VA benefits even after he starts receiving them.
I’ll second this: I’m an ROTC-trained, active duty Line Officer in the US Air Force. Now that I’ve fulfilled my initial Active Duty Service Committment (ADSC) for my ROTC training, I simply serve “at the pleasure of the President” and can seperate at any time (by giving six months notice of course).
However, with every PCS, I incur a new ADSC, as I would if I took a graduate school slot, undergraduate pilot training, some specialized job training, etc. Now that I’ve accepted orders to transfer to Georgia, I incur a 2-year ADSC, which means I have basically signed a strong ‘gentlemens agreement’ with Uncle Sam, saying that I’ll serve at least two more years (okay, it’s more like an informal contract). After July of ‘08, I can continue to serve in Georgia as long as I like, or give them six months’ notice whenever the Spirit moves me, and seperate later on.
The only exception to this is: if for some reason they want to send me to Cannon AFB in Clovis, NM, I would refuse to accept the assignment. At that point, the Air Force says, “Okay bub! Thanks for your service to this point. You have seven days to seperate. Thanks for playing. Don, tell him what lovely parting gifts we have!!” I haven’t seen too many people take the seven day option. Quitting one’s stable job is rarely a whimsical decision.
If they wanted to assign me to Cannon, I’d take that 7-day option though. Of course, I said the same thing about a “staff job” (my Georgia orders). :smack:
Officers who have fulfilled their initial service commitments may separate at any time, with 6 months’ notice, assumng there is no stop-loss in effect. What about enlisted personnel?
No real answer to this one. What power if any does Congress have to force the military to retain officers?
Personnel no longer in the military can still be tried by the military for crimes committed while in the service.
Probably the view of people who are used to green grass. I took advanced flight training at Fort Sumner, NM (Billy The Kid country) which is 50-60 miles west of Clovis. I thought it the most God awful hell hole on the earth. However, after having lived for many years on the desert I went through there again and it’s really quite pretty. Red soil and mesas all around.
Of course if you are into theater, museums, and metropolitain life in general, then Clovis, NM (pop.32211) isn’t the place for you. For that you would have to go over to Lubbock, TX.
Enlisted personnel, barring stop-loss, can get out of the military in an active capacity following the end of their enlistment contract. Unlike officers, we have a set term of enlistment that we have to fulfill, and then each term following is an iron-clad agreement (no “gentlemen’s agreement” for enlisted people).
However, there is always a catch, and that catch is in the fine print. Once your term of active service ends you enter into what is called the “Individual Ready Reserve” for the term specified in your contract (mine is 2 years). while you are on the rolls of the IRR you do no training and draw no pay, but if you are called you are obligated to come back to the service. Once that time lapses you are free and clear.
Officers that retire are always liable for recall. Officers serve, as Tripler said, “at the pleasure of the President” and as such can be recalled any time they are needed unless they resign their commission, completely separating themselves from the military and sacrificing all of their retirement benefits (that they are receiving or will receive in the future). I could be wrong about that, but there is a definite distinction between retirement and resignation and I think that’s it.
Specifically, what you’re describing here is the MSO (Military Service Obligation). Anyone, Officer or Enlisted who enters their first period of either Active or Reserve status incurs an 8 year obligation. The MSO was only 6 years when I first enlisted so after I did my 6 years and 6 months (owing to an extension on my enlistment), I was free of the MSO. The term of the MSO isn’t specified a 2 years but rather is set in law as 8 years total service in any component of the Armed Forces. If you have already done 8 years, you’re free of the MSO.
The MSO is also the reason why those who enlist for Active Duty now for 2, 3, 4, or 6 years don’t get discharged at the end of that period of Active Duty (assuming they haven’t already fulfilled the MSO). They are transferred to a Reserve component.
In regards to Clovis, NM, I spent the better part of four months TDY down there last year. My mother also told me that if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all . . .
Another issue is retirement. Technically, I’m not retired (although that’s what I, with the government’s permission, call it). After I qualified for it, I applied for a transfer to the Fleet Reserve and was transferred to that component on the appropriate date. I am Enlisted and subject to recall to Active Duty just like my brother, the USAR commissioned officer who retired and got recalled for a year (he already did that year so he’s back home now).
