With Little Choice, Reservists Sit Tight (Long stays frustrate many)

[kskiska]

They changed the title on me.

BAGHDAD -- Sgt. Angel Navarro reported to the Khadra police station for his evening shift as a military policeman. With Iraqi police officers now handling most of the criminal cases, carjackings and kidnappings, Navarro had an abundance of time to reflect on his own situation.

The buzz-cut 23-year-old with the Connecticut Army National Guard's 143rd Military Police Company said he yearns to be a police detective. Before going on active duty, he took criminal justice classes at Tunxis Community College in Farmington.

His two toddler girls and fiancee are also back in Connecticut, and he misses them. Under the terms of his mandatory service contract with the National Guard, Navarro would have been reunited with them in a matter of weeks. But the U.S. military has extended the tours of all reservists in Iraq to one full year. Under those new orders, he could be home in April. Maybe.

"I expected to be out next month. Now I can't go home," Navarro said as five members of his platoon sat around him, laughing or shaking their heads in agreement. "I signed up for one weekend a month and two weeks of training" a year, he said. "I'm here every weekend now."

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53573-2003Oct6.html

[saigon68]

1. What you do---- is you get Out-- and don't re-enlist

And make sure your brother and your neighbors don't make the same mistake you did. And when the Chimpanzee starts the draft--- take to the streets and demonstrate.

[Hobarticus]

2. You know it's bad...

...when the vets say, stay the hell out!

[sleipnir]

3. Bush has Runied the Guard System for Years, Maybe Forever