"The army wants to take care of soldiers and thier families"

[FormerOstrich]

Just one of many but still hard to comprehend why we can't STOP the war or at least the SURGE.

CHICAGO - Denied.

It was the only word Drew Sleezer really heard when he got the phone call recently.

Sleezer, 22, who already had served two combat tours in Afghanistan, pleaded with the Army to allow him to continue with his college education rather than return to duty.

Instead, he has been ordered to ship out for Iraq on June 3. He got the news last week.

The ongoing involvement in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq have forced the military to dip deep into the Reserve system.

...snip

The Darien, Ill., man was 17 when he joined the Army, delighted by a $5,000 signing bonus and eager to fight in Afghanistan. It all looked so good: a chance to travel, to pay for college and to fight in a meaningful war after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

He made an eight-year commitment: three years of active duty and five as an inactive reservist. He said he was told the chances of his being called back after his discharge from active duty were remote.

For Sleezer, his new life is again in jeopardy. For his family, a third deployment means months of torment waiting for his return.

"I don't have the will to go back to war," Sleezer said. "I left that part of my life behind me."

But this is what he signed up for when he begged his parents several years ago for their permission to enlist before his 18th birthday. And even though he was honorably discharged from active duty in 2005, the Army is well within its rights to call him back.

...snip

But war is different. When Sleezer came home on leave from his first tour in Afghanistan, he was darker, edgier, family members said. He would snap at his parents and siblings with little provocation.

At the end of his leave, Sleezer was shipped back to Afghanistan for another six-month tour.

...snip

"At the time, it was, 'Hey, this is my job, and it's what I'm here to do,' " he said. "I wouldn't have nightmares there, but when I came down from it, that's when it started to bother me. I still have dreams that they're coming to get me and I can't shoot back."

...snip

But by the time he left active duty, Sleezer had lost all motivation to fight.

...snip

He enrolled in Eastern Illinois University, determined to get a degree. Money for college was one of the military's greatest gifts since Sleezer's father suffered a debilitating stroke years earlier and was out of work for months, the family income stretched thin.

Sleezer joined a fraternity and started dating. In his mind, he had almost no affiliation with the Army.

But just after Thanksgiving, an official-looking package arrived from the Army and sent the family reeling. The words Operation Iraqi Freedom only added to his mother's anxiety.

...snip

Maj. Anne Edgecomb, an Army spokeswoman, said that while she was sympathetic to Sleezer's situation, the Army's expectations are clear.

"Soldiers who receive mobilization orders are expected to comply with the order," Edgecomb said. "However, the Army wants to take care of soldiers and their families."

She said soldiers who lose a first appeal can appeal again.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0204reservists0204.html

[MADem]

1. It's what happens when kids listen to lying recruiters, rather than sit their asses down and read

every single damned word on that six to eight page contract, including the teeny tiny words in the small boxes, often toward the bottom of the page. That's generally where the "good shit" is.

Don't believe the recruiter when he or she says "Ok, this section means this that and the other thing, sign right here, and initial here, here, and here." The correct answer to that is "One moment my good man/dear lady, I must read this document in full before I sign anything!"

It would avoid this heartache if kids would just READ the CONTRACT. It's unambiguous, the wording. You're giving up your autonomy, and they own you lock, stock and barrel. It's in the MGIB paperwork that you can be recalled, too, if you still have a service obligation, and it clearly, plainly states that they can haul your ass outta school in the middle of a semester.

I feel for the kid, but appeal, shmappeal. His only hope now is to get bounced for medical problems, and his best, though not only, bet, would be psych related.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. But, but, if he gets bounced for

ahem incompatibility he will loose all benefits.

And you and I know they are doing that.

It is a hard rock and a hard place

[MADem]

3. Not if it's service connected....and there's where you need a good doctor, one who knows the system

If it's service connected, he could probably get a small disability payment, say, ten percent of his base pay (before allowances and whatnot). He'll probably have to tilt at that windmill three or four times before he gets that benefit, but it's conceivable, if he's sufficiently traumatized.

If he lays down and just refuses to go, then he's got problems. But if he jumps through the medical hoops he might have a shot.

[murielm99]

4. One of my son's friends

was sufficiently traumatized.

But he killed himself before going back a third time. He was 22.

[MADem]

5. That's a crime. He should be counted in the total number who have been

shoved into this meatgrinder, but they won't include him...or any others like him.