Reply #19: Actually, napi, everyone CHOOSES to go. There's always a choice.

[IrateCitizen]

Of course, the consequences of choosing not to go may not be desirable or palatable.

To be quite honest, if I were to receive deployment orders (I came very, very close this winter), I'm not certain what I would do. If I obeyed those orders, I would be participating in an action that I believe to be exploitative, imperialistic, and having absolutely nothing to do with the oath I took. If I refused those orders and suffered the consequences, I would likely be court martialed and given a black mark for the rest of my life. And, I would also have to worry about how this would affect my wife.

I'm hoping I don't have to make that decision. My committment time is up come this December, and I'm initiating the process to resign my commission ASAP. If they refuse to let me go, I already have legal representation lined up.

But don't portray this as a lack of a choice. There's always a choice -- and like others in life, this one is far from easy.