Extension hits reservists' families Home beckons, but call of duty in Iraq

[RamboLiberal]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/09/13/MN308179.DTL

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Thompkins-Bischel said the extended deployment might cause problems for National Guard recruiting. She wonders who would want to join a unit that is likely to be sent to a combat zone, especially for such a long time.

Already, she said, morale is suffering. She said men in her husband's unit are talking about ways to get sent home early. She said there was talk about letting some of them take breaks from the action and fly home for a short time.

But the Pentagon is worried that many of them won't go back.

"I know Dave won't re-enlist," she said. "My daughter already told him, if he tries to stay in the Guard, she's going to shoot him in the leg."

Thompkins-Bischel said she saw a photograph taken in Iraq that summed up everyone's feelings. It was of a humvee, and someone had used chalk to write on the side: "One weekend a month, two weeks every summer -- my ass!"

[alfredo]

1. The recruiters are the lonliest men in town now.

If we can't find recruits, a draft will have to be put in place.