Posted on 05/18/2004 7:36:37 AM PDT by XXXXX88XXXXX
FORT WORTH, Texas - The Defense Department, strapped for troops for missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, has proposed to Congress that it tap the Internal Revenue Service to locate out-of-touch reservists.
The unusual measure, which the Pentagon said has been examined by lawyers, would allow the IRS to pass on addresses for tens of thousands of former military members who still face recall into the active duty.
The proposal has largely escaped attention amid all the other crises of government, and it is likely to face opposition from privacy rights activists who see information held by the IRS as inviolate.
For it to become practice, Congress and President Bush would have to approve the proposal, which would involve amending the tax code.
Ari Schwartz, an associate director of the Center for Democracy and Technology in Washington, said granting access to any IRS data would open the door to more requests from other arms of the government.
Just a few years ago, Congress strengthened the privacy provisions of the tax code, he said.
"There are other ways to solve the problem they have, without putting the tax information at risk," Schwartz said. "We would hope that those members who worked only four or five years ago on strengthening tax-privacy laws would stand up and say this is a bad idea."
Lt. Col. Bob Stone, a spokesman for the assistant defense secretary for reserve affairs, said the proposal was developed several years ago and is unconnected to the Army's current shortage of troops.
Part or all of nine of the Army's 10 active-duty divisions are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, and 167,000 members of the reserves or National Guard are on active duty, with thousands more on alert for mobilization.
Unknown to most Americans, though, is the existence of the Individual Ready Reserve, which has more than 280,000 members.
The IRR is a distinctly different animal than the drilling reserves or National Guard.
Those in the IRR are people who have completed their active-duty tours but are subject to involuntary recall for a certain number of years. For example, a soldier who serves four years on active duty remains in the IRR for another four years.
During that time, however, they receive no pay, do not drill with a unit and are otherwise completely civilian.
The problem for the Pentagon is that the whereabouts of 50,200 of those veterans are unknown to the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force. The largest number - 40,700 - are former Army GIs.
Because Texas sends more people into the service than almost any other state, it's a good bet many are in the Lone Star State.
"While the military today is comprised of an all-volunteer force, every individual who volunteers for service in the armed forces voluntarily accepts an eight-year military service obligation," Stone said.
The troops are required to keep the services' updated on their residences, but many do not. Thirty-four percent of former Army soldiers cannot be tracked. The unknowns in the other services are in the single digit percentages.
"One of the difficulties that the military services confront is keeping addresses current," Stone said.
The Defense Department has called on members of the IRR before. About 7,000 people have been recalled since 9-11, Stone said. Approximately 30,000 were recalled for service during the buildup for the Persian Gulf War in 1990 and 1991, he said.
While I am stunned at the number of IRR members that can not be reached, I am entirely against the use of the IRS for any additional enforcement. What's next, using the IRS to blackmail people that disagree with you? Wait, that is currently done......
IRR is a small example. Here's another; No one really actually "retires" from the service. When a servicemember "retires" he doesn't leave the service. He is relieved of all duties, shifted from the "active list" to the "retired list", and retained at half-pay (or more). He's still in the service and may be recalled at any time for any reason.
Once in the service, always in the service.
Given the huge amount of privately available databases covering virtually the same topic, why not leave tax records alone and employ commercially available skip tracing techniques.
I agree that using the IRS to track the troops is an unprecedented move. Just wait until they find out how easy it is to find people - bill collectors, divorce lawyers, and PI's use tax records to find deadbeats and missing people all the time.
trace these shirkers ASAP-what's the big deal w/usin IRS for this limited mission?!
Draft Illegaliens.
Because limited missions never stay limited when it comes to government bureacracy.
Just a few years ago we had democrats in the WH who weren't above playing fast and loose with peoples' records. A lot of time and effort went into trying to protect that information. Loosening it up because the Army is doing a poor job of staying in touch with people sets a very bad precedent. Ponder that for a while.
is it a 'reg' for the individual to keep gubmint informed of an address til he/she's not eligible for call up?
Not worried. The Army knows where to find me.
When you sign your name on the dotted line you cease to be an individual citizen, and become government property. The government can do whatever they want with you, until you are released from service. Hence the expression: U. S. Army= Uncle Sam Ain't Released Me Yet!
I don't know how the Army does it (I said Army in my previous comment because they had the most problems). I believe that if you serve under 8 years active/reserve/NG, that your in the IRR the balance of the 8 years, and that is a binding thing. I do find the timing odd, however I don't think Iraq constitutes enough of an emergency to call up the IRR, I think this is more of a bookkeeping thing.
If your retired like me, it's probably a wise thing to keep the DoD/etc. informed of your address, if you want to keep getting your benefits.
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