No More Stop Loss

Ladies and gentlemen....
We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you the following announcement:
Despite Obama's campaign promises to begin drawing down troops in Iraq and his recent plans "to withdraw most American troops from Iraq by August 2010 but leave tens of thousands behind to advise Iraqi forces," things are not always as the seem.
Right now, soldiers who are supposed to be getting out of the Army are being stop lossed and forced to remain on active duty and deploy back to Iraq or Afghanistan. In addition, soldiers that are actually OUT OF THE ARMY are also being called back to active duty from what is called the IRR or Individual Ready Reserve. This is a pool of soldiers that can basically be "reactivated" at any time, even though they are out of the Army. The IRR is supposed to be used only in cases of "severe emergency" and gives the President the authority to call up these soldiers as needed. Apparently this authority has been in effect for a long time, despite no evidence of "severe emergency" other than the dwindling ranks of volunteers for the military.

This involuntary recall and stop lossing is happening on a regular basis to soldiers who have no desire to give any more of their lives in the service of this country than what they have already given. In many cases, theses are men and women who have already served multiple tours, have families, have started college, may even be injured or have PTSD, but, it doesn't matter!! They call them back, work them out, pack them up and send them back to defend our country and our right to sit around with our feet up and not even remember that the "great war on terror" continues and well, somebody's gotta fight it, so it might as well be the ones who volunteered in the first place right? Oh, and let's not forget the line that is always heaved up when this topic is discussed...."Well, you signed the contract. That really sucks for you." It's not our problem that many were lied to about the fine print or maybe when they signed up they didn't figure on TWO WARS that are still going on after six and eight years.

Anyway, here are some examples of stop loss and/or involuntary recall at it's finest:

1) The Usual Suspect - just returned from Iraq in June of 2008. He is stationed in Fort Lewis, WA. He was in Iraq for 15 MONTHS! He is an infantry soldier with the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team. He is like 45 days from getting discharged OUT OF THE ARMY FOR GOOD.
But, hold up, wait a minute.....this just in, the 4-2 will deploy back to Iraq in the fall of 2009!
Fingers are crossed that those who are supposed to be getting out won't be stop lossed. What do you think will happen?

2) 13 Stoploss - he was already stop lossed! He was married and had a baby due. He had to sell his home and his wife had to move home with her family, so she wouldn't be alone when she delivered the baby. This soldier was a FISTER (read his blog if you want to know what that is) and he has had a really rough time getting past all the BS he has had to deal with since then. He is out of the Army now, thank God. Here is what 13 had to say in one small excerpt from his post called "Fear" on the Army's stop loss policy and how it affected him, "Can you imagine a combat trained Infantry Battalion losing 40% of its force? Neither could the Pentagon, and that's why there is a stop loss."

3) Army of Dude - this guy was also in a Stryker unit. He is also out of the Army, but, is on the IRR. He lives in a certain amount of fear every day, that the "brown" envelope will show up in his mailbox "inviting" him to report for active duty again. Dude is in school and is in the process of trying to get his life back together after a 15 month deployment as well. So far Dude has been lucky, but, his friend SL was not so lucky! He got his call back and needless to say he and Dude were not too thrilled about this. Dude started a campaign to try to help his friend and long story short, his friend was able to have his case reviewed and his orders have been cancelled. If you read nothing else, read his "Keeping the Faith: A Letter to President Obama."

4) Colby Buzzell - another soldier who had a blog (My War: Killing Time In Iraq) while in Iraq. Came home wrote a book (by the same name) about his experiences. He was out for three years when he got his little party invite. Go to his site and read about how he was one station away from being back in the Army when he was able to get approved for a medical "not deployable" due to his PTSD.

All of these guys are wonderful writers. They are intelligent and articulate young men who have literally been to hell and back. They all have a point of view and they are doing their damnedest to make a difference in the crazy messed up world. All of their sites are listed on my blog roll on the side of my blog. If you want to know more about stop loss, IRR, and what amounts to basically a back door draft, please take a moment to read what they have to say!! In addition, I am asking EVERYONE to take a moment out of your life and sign this petition to end stop loss and involuntary recalls of our soldiers. Please feel free to write and CALL your Congresspeople. It can and will make a difference. It is our duty as citizens to be informed. These guys could be your sons, your brothers, your husbands, so let's all take a moment to give a shit about what happens to them, shall we? The last time I checked the petition had about fifteen signatures. Not a great outpouring of support. But, that will change when all of you go and sign. I hope to see all my family and friends signed on to this petition the next time I check. Thank you in advance for your support!