Posted on 06/21/2004 9:43:49 PM PDT by feelgoodfox
Is there anyone on this board with current information on armed forces policies and procedures for deployment and reenlistment in the Middle East? I found the following on Guardian Talk, and it sure sounds like a load of BS to me:
My son is in the air-force in appropriations (warehouse). He has no real combat training. "I am going to Iraq with an Army Platoon in the center of Baghdad. Not for Airforce stuff but to protect convoys from terrorists which means for the first time I am going to actually be doing some fighting." ...Did you know many military personel do not in fact re-sign up? They are not allowed out! My son was supposed to be out January 2002...I made him re-up when it was obvious that his papers weren't going through so he could get his bonus. All the guys that were supposed to get out at the same time were held over for two years with NO bonus!...It is amazing that you don't know that many are being held over. I have a client whose son is a pilot who takes the guys in and out of Iraq (doesn't like the out) he can't get out. he is also 26 years old.
A rebuttal stated: "First, the US military today does not send its personnel, who have primarily administrative duties, into combat situations .... especially members of the US Air Force who receive absolutely no combat/weapons training.
"And second, in no way will the US military prevent someone from leaving the service for 29 months, especially someone in a non-essential specialty such as an administrative MOS."
Information, please!
There is a "stop loss" in effect which prevents retirements and ETS. As far as being stationed "with the Army", well many areas are "joint" (all services together), sorry no air conditioned Airmen's club when he's with the grunts.
Don't worry, he'll do fine.
Middle of Baghdad isn't as bad as it sounds. The Green Zone gets hit with rockets now and then and it makes the news but it is an enormous area and one of the safest in Iraq.
You do see Air Force guys scattered with some army units, but I highly doubt he's going to be on convoy security detail. Don't get me wrong, he'll probably go on a convoy here and there, but it won't be a permanent security assignment.
As for the stop-loss: Yes. It certainly does suck. I'm a two-time 7 month victim of the dreaded practice. :)
I know of no such policy being enacted for Air Force personnel (minus some pilots).
Thanks for your reply. To clarify, this isn't my son, it's the poster on Guardian who is concerned.
I recently met a Guardsman who'd just come off 9 months in Baghdad. He said that the most dangerous time is when you're enroute, in convoys. That's what this woman's son is going to be doing, protecting convoys.
Thanks, Cap. I understand that the odds are radically in favor of an individual serving, even in Iraq, with no major injury.
Still, one can understand a mother's worry.
What I've never heard of is keeping them in such a long time after their service time is up.
The USAF had plans to DUMP 18,000 enlisted - thats right, lay off 18,000 folks. They will recruit fewer folks for the year? in order to retain some of the already trained folks.
Stop loss is in effect for some USAF specialties. Yes, the Air Force DOES provide COMBAT training - Ask any TACP/TAC, Combat Controller, para-rescue or security force troop!
I do find it difficult to believe that the air force would put a supply troop in the middle of Baghdad and expect him to guard convoys...the Army and US Marines are trained to do that...so that part does not seem to pass the smell test.
For more, try the Air Force web site, or the Air Force Times -- they just may have the info you are looking
That certainly seems to contradict what this woman is saying about her son's forced extension of duty.
She's a leftie, so her motivation in posting this certainly is an attempt to portray the US armed services in a bad light (even though her son is a volunteer - odd, eh?)
While I don't believe she's the sharpest knife in the drawer, she doesn't seem to be the type to lie outright. How could she misunderstand this situation? She's not faking her worry, that much is certain.
I actually know her. It's not a phony setup, which is why I was so thrown by her posts.
She didn't "make" him do anything, I'm sure she advised him and he made the decision. Still, the whole thing is puzzling.
While I hesitate to be unkind, she isn't as bright as she could be. I just can't understand how she can be so completely out to lunch on this matter.
(shakes head)
I wonder if her son's been entirely upfront with her.
I wonder if her son's been entirely upfront with her.
Maybe not. We had a local mom who said that her son told her that we were taking way more casualties during the first few weeks of the war than was being reported. What he said is that we were flying a lot of bodies out of Iraq in coffins that were not draped by the US flag. At that time the US was still sifting bombed out buildings looking for a few key people. The mom assumed that we were being lied to concerning our own casualties instead of trying us to identify exactly who we had killed.
It is posted in the GUardian for God's sake..It probably is about some English soldier. And if not then it makes no sense whatsoever. Stop orders are only out for certain types of MOS and to say that the Air Force doesn't provide basic training is absurd . Do they get Marine training nope but then they ain't doing Marines work either...this whole thing sounds sooooo fishy
How can you be sure of that? I know lots of folks who have an over active imagination and perceive the real world in very odd and strange ways ( think Michael Moore and the conspiracy theorists)...I don't believe a word of it
How does anyone get through basic without "any training" for battle...doesn't happen
Yes, it's in the Guardian. I've posted in the Guardian and never lied once.
I've corresponded with the woman over the past year, I know her son's in the USAF.
THIS PARTICULAR SITUATION, though, sounds like a complete mess, and I can only conclude that she's grossly misinterpreted what her son is going to be doing. I don't know what to make of the "reenlistment" bit.
I wouldn't put it past her son to concoct a story about "having no choice" about reenlisting, if he thought she'd whine about his making such a decision of his own free will (for whatever as-yet-unrevealed reason).
Maybe he met a girl over there ;-)
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.