Soldier Called Back To Duty On Day Before Retirement

[sabra]

http://www.fox28.com/News/index.php?ID=6303

Soldier Called Back To Duty On Day Before Retirement

Army Staff Sergeant James Engle is scheduled to return to Iraq at the end of this month, just days away from retirement after a 20-year military career.

Engle applied for retirement in January and even received a retirement award from the Army.

But late last month he was told paperwork was missing and he should report to his unit.

The Army then denied both his retirement request and a request for exemption from deployment to Iraq.

The Army said that the requests were neither "compelling nor compassionate enough in nature."

[Donnachaidh]

1. guess how they made their quota, huh?

And we all thought indentured servitude died out some time back. :sarcasm:

[leQ]

2. i'll bet this is a lot more common than what times the news catches it. nt

[Kiouni]

3. Thats the way to go

even more disgruntled soldiers.

[Olney Blue]

4. This is horrible and an outrage.

:grr:

[Rex]

5. This will piss off a lot of high ranking people.

You just don't treat a 20 year vet like this.

[sce56]

6. Before Shrub controlled the Army you could not go past twenty as a SSG!

http://web.archive.org/web/20030602211200/


Got Fascism Yet?

http://www.georgewalkerbush.net/bush-nazilinkconfirmed.htm

[Monkeyman]

15. Yep but then they only to take that retirement. No SS

[against all enemies]

7. Maybe he should request an exemption to work on a Senate campaign.

It worked for the boy wonder during Viet Nam.

[Nolo_Contendre]

8. Stop-Loss Orders, the Backdoor Draft

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A36979-2003Dec28?language=printer

To the Pentagon, stop-loss orders are a finger in the dike -- a tool to halt the hemorrhage of personnel, and maximize cohesion and experience, for units in the field in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Through a series of stop-loss orders, the Army alone has blocked the possible retirements and departures of more than 40,000 soldiers, about 16,000 of them National Guard and reserve members who were eligible to leave the service this year. Hundreds more in the Air Force, Navy and Marines were briefly blocked from retiring or departing the military at some point this year.

By prohibiting soldiers and officers from leaving the service at retirement or the expiration of their contracts, military leaders have breached the Army's manpower limit of 480,000 troops, a ceiling set by Congress. In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee last month, Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff, disclosed that the number of active-duty soldiers has crept over the congressionally authorized maximum by 20,000 and now registered 500,000 as a result of stop-loss orders. Several lawmakers questioned the legality of exceeding the limit by so much.

[MadMaddie]

9. Thanks for the information..

The kicker is we have an administration that is declaring we have enough troops to fight North Korea if needed....they have systematically destroyed our military....

[salin]

10. that snippet alone deserves its own thread - it is so serious

kudos for zeroing in on a very key issue.

[krkaufman]

17. Huh. I didn't realize we had a fixed maximum for the number of troops.

Nor, obviously, that we'd exceeded it. Thanks for the info.

[ovidsen]

11. This shouldn't happen even once

But I'll wager it happens all the time.

[bullimiami]

12. The Army said "F&*K Y^*"

just to paraphrase....:)

[sce56]

13. How bout USARMY = UncleSamAintRelasedMeYet

I sure hope he makes that retirement I bet he is not voting for a repuglican in November if he gets the chance to vote! Best of Luck to you Staff Sergeant Engle come back home safe and sound!

http://web.archive.org/web/20030602211200/
Got Fascism Yet?

[Haole Girl]

14. "He was told paperwork was missing"

Yup, sounds like the military.

I guess this is what they call a back-door-draft. :grr:

[TexasLawyer]

16. Enlistees-- Note well!

Once you're in the military, your life is not your own.

And you may be treated very unfairly (in addition to being thrown constantly into harm's way).

What a sad story.

[bonito]

18. Nobody volunteered for bushshit duty. n/t