Posted on 04/13/2005 5:44:05 AM PDT by Guard Dog
Amid the chaos of war, Sgt. Roberto Orozco and about 35 other members of the Florida National Guard sent to Iraq relied on what they knew for certain: their military training, the love of their families and their government jobs back home.
Then one day in the combat zone, the men got a letter. When they returned home, the letter read, their jobs as full-time members of the Guard assigned to a federal drug interdiction program would be gone.
Indeed, had the soldiers worked for a civilian firm, and not for the federal government, they might have been covered by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, which protects reservists from discrimination and job loss when called to active duty.
(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...
I have always said, I am much more afraid of the govenment than anything else in life. Why? They can take anything from you and are not obligated to follow their own laws. As anyone who works in defense contacts knows, all employment is temporary. But this was really poorly handeled.
I think these soldiers will be taken care of properly now that the loophole has been uncovered and made public.
Yeah, but this Guard Counterdrug program was one of those 1990s DoD programs, no doubt promoted by local congressmen behind the scenes, to try and find peacetime "make-work" missions for Guard units to justify their continued existence and funding during that period. With that said, those men should have been taken care of when their jobs were eliminated, and notified in a much better way, rather than receiving a "Dear John" letter from their unit in the middle of a combat zone. Poorly managed and embarrassing for the Florida Guard. Now the story is out, I'm sure that some belated employment relief will be forthcoming.
Other than getting shot or your wife dumping you, I have to imagine this is the worst insult to a person in a combat position. It's hard enough to focus on the work at hand (or waiting to do the work at hand) without worrying about getting dumped by your employer and finding a new job.
I feel sorry for these guys. Hopefully this is all taken care of ASAP.
I've seen it posted here time after time. No-nonsense Freeper "free traders" and "guest worker" supporters say, "No American has a right to a job."
However it seems that until a glut of "cheap labor" reliable and brave personnel can be found to serve as soldiers there is one job for Americans, protecting the butts of American "free traders" and the rest of us.
Just being a mite sarcastic.
I have not heard anything about that. There is a guy in my company in Afganistan now. His job is waiting for him when he gets back. I was in that neighborhood in '91 and there were reservists in my unit who all had jobs waiting for them. There are instances where a military member gets shafted by a company but I think it's the exception rather than the rule.
Undocumented workers probaly needed these jobs and the Americans who went to Iraq and fought for their country will just have to find new jobs. We cant just fire the undocumented workers can we?
Unbelievable!
Mike can you add anything to this?
You are absolutely correct. However the few may have to remind the boss.
Here is the posted article I mentioned above, http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1381166/posts
Apparently I confused it with another news article to get the numbers I mentioned above.
A search of google News for, Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, found about 40 articles.
One article from the Cincinnati Enquirer said
"Maj. Rob Palmer of the Air Force Reserve said the military has received 6,781 inquiries since April 2004 from guardsmen and reservists about their employment rights under the act. He said 90 percent of inquiries were resolved before legal action was taken."
This is the world we live in today. It's not your W.W.II grandfather's America anymore.
Some "businessmen" have to be reminded that they are Americans, looks like about 10 percent of those have to be forced to admit that they are Americans.
Thank you for your service.
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