Posted on 10/07/2007 7:50:21 AM PDT by Turret Gunner A20
Loks like the Pentagon needs a good housecleaning.
This should really do a number on future National Guard enlistments.
Some heads should roll over this lousey stunt -- NOW, NOT AFTER A COUPLE OF YEARS OF PHONY 'INVESTIGATION AND HEARINGS' leading nowhere.
Details here:
http://www.wcsh6.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=71741
Working Link
http://www.wcsh6.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=71741
MINNEAPOLIS, MN (NBC) — When they came home from Iraq, 2,600 members of the Minnesota National Guard had been deployed longer than any other ground combat unit. The tour lasted 22 months and had been extended as part of President Bush’s surge.
I have no idea what the requirement is, but it apparently has to do with length of time on active duty, short term vs. long term. One day is obviously part of a deliberate plan. I for one would like to know who made the decision and on what basis.
"It's pretty much a slap in the face," Anderson said. "I think it was a scheme to save money, personally. I think it was a leadership failure by the senior Washington leadership... once again failing the soldiers."
Anderson's orders, and the orders of 1,161 other Minnesota guard members, were written for 729 days.
Had they been written for 730 days, just one day more, the soldiers would receive those benefits to pay for school.
Best regards,
If they were drafted they would have been in for 730 days and entitled to GI Vet. Benefits. This has something to do with ARNG service vs. an old regulation that dates back to the early GI Bill. ARNG Training i.e. 6 months is not considered active duty time. The 6 months is “training with the army”. The 729 days are active duty time, one day short of what a draftee would have served. Its a raw deal for the ARNG, but some congressmen will get on it shortly for sure, especially now with an election coming up.
These tactics are caused by not having enough Active Duty forces. It can also be easily fixed by the President or by Congress so turn up the heat folks.
The long term fix is to increase the size of the Active Duty military. Something that will be much harder to do in the face of the Dem head wind against the war.
Maybe some reenlistments. And even that will be driven by what kinds of reenlistment incentives are offered.
When were the orders issued to the Guardsmen?
And yes, I agree, the orders were absolutely written so as to fall one day short of triggering a change in status. Been done that way forever in both the active and reserve forces.
How you going to stop it? Kick up a fuss over one day? Ok, next time out the issuing authority writes the order for 700 days. What then?
What a great way to make Volunteers feel appreciated and encourage even more to sign up.../s
That trick will work exactly once.
That’s the problem. Short term gains, long term losses. Idiots.
This would make a good campaign issue.
They signed up for the reserve knowing that these benefits were only available to full time soldiers. So slap the face of the full time enlistee and extend these benefits to the part timers? Tough choice.
You can be harmed on the first day or on the thousandth day. If these men placed themselves in harms way they deserve all benefits.They stand on the proverbial "wall" just like everyone else in an active war zone.
Senators Klobuchar and Coleman released a joint statement saying the Army secretary, Pete Geren, is looking into this personally, and they say Geren asked a review board to expedite its review so the matter could be solved by next semester.
Everybody take a deep breath and understand the following:
1. We are conservatives so we expect the government to be imperfect.
2. A bureaucratic anomoly with no apparent ill intent resulted in a perverse outcome for a small, fixed, known number of soldiers.
3. This situation is now receiving attention from the media, two Senators, and the Secretary of the Army who says he is looking at it personally and expediting resolution of the matter.
And finally and most importantly:
4. FReepers should not act like hysterical girls and/or shreiking lying leftists when the inevitable happens and government makes mistakes. To do so advances socialism (ironically, given that this puts the imperfect government in charge of more stuff), it advances jihadism, and it makes the offending FReepers look dumb.
Think about it.
It wasn't an "anomoly" with no "ill intent". It was very deliberate. It's the same trick the air force used to employ when rotating B-47 units to England and Spain (and earlier Libya), they'd go for 179 days, making it a long "temporary duty", rather than a "permanent change of station".
IIRC Air Natioinal Guard and Air Force Reserve airmen were deployed to Vietnam and nearby areas for that same 179 days, so as not to trigger them into active duty status, less than 180 days being "temporary active duty". This in turn kept it from triggering various benefits, one of those being medical care for dependents. Interestingly the rule on that was recently dropped from 180 days to 30 days.
Bean counters, not content to just count the beans, also like to hoard them.
This article seems to indicate that the 179 day TDY trick is still being pulled. In this case, airman doing Army type work being deployed for 179 days at a time.
I’m with you. If there was any malice, it was the people responsible for arranging to get them home a couple of days too early to collect the extra benefits.
But from my stint in the army, I’d say it was more likely a typical SNAFU, where the people who arranged the travel were focused on other things. The politicians will now see that it gets fixed, maybe one of the few useful things they do this year.
To heck with this. Allow these benefits. You don’t do anything for them; but you do everything for the enemy.
Yep, and Rush Limbaugh hates American soldiers. It must be true. The dinosaur media told you.
LGF had a post about this yesterday and added this update.
UPDATE at 10/6/07 1:10:14 pm:
It looks like it is being fixed; here’s the latest news: U.S. Army secretary works to fix GI Bill for Minnesotans.
Members of the Minnesota congressional delegation have been working with the Minnesota National Guard to correct what they consider an inequity.
The state’s U.S. senators, Norm Coleman and Amy Klobuchar, announced Monday they had received word from Army Secretary Pete Geren that he was attempting to fix the problem.
“Many of these soldiers have put their education on hold in order to serve our nation, and awarding these benefits is the least we can do for them when they return,” Coleman said.
Geren told the senators he was recommending that the Army Board of Corrections, which has the authority to award the benefits, expedite the review process so the soldiers could get their benefits in time to enroll for spring semester. Usually, each soldier would each have to file a personal appeal, but Geren requested the Army review them as one group.
So, have you read (or written) any good Texas Air National Guard memos recently?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.