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sisyphusshruggedNational Guard Recruitment Short of Goal; Impact on Retention Is Predicted
...In Michigan, the wife of a soldier in the 1438th Engineer Detachment, an Army National Guard unit, said three-quarters of her husband's fellow soldiers are planning to quit as soon as they return from tours in Iraq that could be extended by four months under the new policy.
And in Florida, Sen. Bill Nelson (D) said after meeting with angry National Guard families in Orlando and Tampa that he would put a hold on the nomination of James G. Roche to become Army secretary if the policy is not modified.
"You can't rely on these occupations in the future to be done by the Guard and Reserves," Nelson said Friday in an interview. "They have a specialized niche, and in times of war, that's one thing. But in times of long, lengthy occupations, you can't take them away from their employers [and their families]. Otherwise, they're not going to reenlist."
...
Army officials have said in recent weeks that they have seen no impact from lengthy overseas tours in Afghanistan and Iraq on recruiting for both the active-duty and Reserve forces. But the same cannot be said for the National Guard, which appears to be falling short of its annual goal by more than 20 percent, having signed up only 47,907 people toward a recruiting goal of 62,000 by the end of August.
Retention may be another matter. Reservists and their family members predict the new policy is likely to have a devastating impact as individuals drop out of the Reserves after they return. It has been impossible to gauge the effect on retention thus far, they say, because there is a wartime "stop-loss" provision in effect on mobilized units that bars reservists from leaving the force even after their service requirements have expired.
Before the policy was implemented, virtually all Guard and Reserve forces had been mobilized for 12 months. Most went to Iraq or Kuwait believing their overseas deployments would last about six months. Six-month overseas tours had been the norm for Guard and Reserve troops before the Iraq war.
Under the new policy, total mobilization time for troops could increase from one to six months, because time spent in the United States no longer counts against the 12-month requirement. Most of the troops spent significant time on duty in the United States before going to Iraq.
...
Nelson said changing the rules of foreign deployments once Guard and Reserve troops were overseas is not fair. From a Florida perspective, he also questioned why Guard units from other states are being brought home before those from his home state, despite the fact that the Florida National Guard was the first to deploy last December...
Maybe someone knows the governor.
...In Michigan, the wife of a soldier in the 1438th Engineer Detachment, an Army National Guard unit, said three-quarters of her husband's fellow soldiers are planning to quit as soon as they return from tours in Iraq that could be extended by four months under the new policy.
And in Florida, Sen. Bill Nelson (D) said after meeting with angry National Guard families in Orlando and Tampa that he would put a hold on the nomination of James G. Roche to become Army secretary if the policy is not modified.
"You can't rely on these occupations in the future to be done by the Guard and Reserves," Nelson said Friday in an interview. "They have a specialized niche, and in times of war, that's one thing. But in times of long, lengthy occupations, you can't take them away from their employers [and their families]. Otherwise, they're not going to reenlist."
...
Army officials have said in recent weeks that they have seen no impact from lengthy overseas tours in Afghanistan and Iraq on recruiting for both the active-duty and Reserve forces. But the same cannot be said for the National Guard, which appears to be falling short of its annual goal by more than 20 percent, having signed up only 47,907 people toward a recruiting goal of 62,000 by the end of August.
Retention may be another matter. Reservists and their family members predict the new policy is likely to have a devastating impact as individuals drop out of the Reserves after they return. It has been impossible to gauge the effect on retention thus far, they say, because there is a wartime "stop-loss" provision in effect on mobilized units that bars reservists from leaving the force even after their service requirements have expired.
Before the policy was implemented, virtually all Guard and Reserve forces had been mobilized for 12 months. Most went to Iraq or Kuwait believing their overseas deployments would last about six months. Six-month overseas tours had been the norm for Guard and Reserve troops before the Iraq war.
Under the new policy, total mobilization time for troops could increase from one to six months, because time spent in the United States no longer counts against the 12-month requirement. Most of the troops spent significant time on duty in the United States before going to Iraq.
...
Nelson said changing the rules of foreign deployments once Guard and Reserve troops were overseas is not fair. From a Florida perspective, he also questioned why Guard units from other states are being brought home before those from his home state, despite the fact that the Florida National Guard was the first to deploy last December...
Maybe someone knows the governor.
