Asking Too Much
The Times has a pretty thorough article on the burden being place on our Reserve and National Guard forces.
"It's just like being on active duty," he said in a telephone interview from Karbala, where 125 members of his company are stationed. "And there's a reason you get out of active duty. At the same time, you want to stay because of patriotism, so you join the National Guard or the reserves. All the guys are prepared for one deployment, especially in the wake of Sept. 11. But we've basically returned to active duty, and that's not what we're in for. It's too much to ask."It is attitudes like Mr. Gorski's that have military officials deeply worried about an exodus from the state-based National Guards and the reserves of the nation's armed forces. Since 9/11, hundreds of thousands of citizen soldiers have been mobilized at a level thought to be the highest since World War II.
Those concerns grew last week when the Army announced that about 20,000 reservists and National Guard troops stationed in Iraq and Kuwait would likely have to serve a full year from the time they landed in those countries, extending their tours by several months.
This phenomenon has been getting a good bit of attention from lefty-bloggers, but it may end up one of the biggest costs of this war. What many forget is that it is not simply a matter of feeling overburdened because they expected to just do "one weekend a month." They were SOLD that line, and thus arranged their lives accordingly. They have car payments and mortgages that conform to their normal income, not the severe reductions in pay that most suffer in the shift to full-time military service.
Mr. Gorski and his wife have it relatively easy. They have no children, only two dogs, Chesty and Bosco.They have been able to count on Mr. Gorski's full income because his company, which he did not want to publicly identify, has paid his salary during his deployment in Washington and in Iraq. That has helped them keep up the mortgage payments and allowed Mrs. Gorski, who is pursuing a career in real estate, to devote most of her time to leading a support group for families of the 870th.
But for those with children, mounting bills and a reduced income, the hardships have become almost unbearable, several spouses and members of the 870th said in interviews. Two other members of the 870th besides Mr. Gorski said they would leave the Guard as soon as possible.
Kudos to Gorski's employer. This is an issue I've been harping on since I started blogging, and it's not going away anytime soon. The longer these reservist deployments last, the fewer companies will be willing to shoulder this burden that the government places on them.
I hope that men like SSG Gorski recognize the great need that the country has for the service, and find a way to soldier on in these hard times. But at this point, I would not look down in the least upon a soldier who opts not to re-enlist.
