Text 3153, 98 rader
Skriven 2004-10-09 02:00:20 av Ed Connell (1:379/1.6)
     Kommentar till en text av Suzanne Terio (1:396/45.0)
Ärende: Re: Time
================
Hey, Suzanne.

ST> I shouldn't rush my posts to you, I know.

ST> It causes me to make mistakes and you know how much I don't like that.
ST> :-)

I'm not so sure that it is the cause of your mistakes, but since this is a
rather informal medium, mistakes are usually overlooked - at least such
simple technical stuff.  Think nothing of it.

ST> I know the difference between "it's" and "its"  and when to use which.
ST> But I goofed in my post to you.  I hope you'll forgive me.  :-)

Nothing to forgive.  It certainly caused me no harm.

ST> Oh, and I should have been more careful when I was writing about my
ST> thoughts on the Louisiana Guard soldiers bound for Iraq.  I don't have
ST> any exact figures on how many left this week.  I said thousands were
ST> mobilized beause that's what I thought I'd read.  But I wasn't sure
ST> about the numbers, so I went online and found an article which I'd like
ST> to share with you.  Here it is:

ST>    10/05/04

ST>    Report urges changes to aid National Guard
ST>    By ROXANNE C. HARE
ST>    rhare@theadvocate.com

ST>    If the Department of Defense doesn't change its policies on
ST>    mobilizing reserve and National Guard troops, it will run out
ST>    of reservists to call up, according to a recent GAO report.

ST>    In a report released Sept. 15 to the U.S. Senate Committee on
ST>    Armed Services, the General Accounting Office said the problem
ST>    stems from a 24-month cumulative time limit for which reserve
ST>    forces can be involuntarily called to duty.  The DOD policy
ST>    also limits involuntary mobilizations to no more than 1 million
ST>    reservists at any one time.

I'm sure they will work something out.  Not to worry.

ST>    "If DOD's implementation of the partial mobilization authority
ST>    restricts the cumulative time that reserve component forces can
ST>    be mobilized, then it is possible that DOD will run out of
ST>    forces," the report says.

ST>    But what is the solution?  The office suggests that the DOD
ST>    develop a strategic framework concerning the availability of
ST>    its reserve components.  But it stops short of saying the DOD
ST>    should allow more than 1 million reservists to be deployed at
ST>    any given time or that the 24-month time limit be extended.

ST>    Considering that the Army National Guard has struggled to meet
ST>    its recruitment goals -- and has struggled to hang on to members
ST>    who already are enlisted -- ordering more National Guard and
ST>    reserve members to deploy longer could further strain the
ST>    military's recruitment and retention efforts.

It could.  Struggle isn't necessarily bad though.  Army life seems to be a
struggle all over.

ST>    The GAO says the Army National Guard failed to meet its
ST>    recruitment goal from October 2002 to May 2004 and ended fiscal
ST>    2003 about 7,800 soldiers short.  With more than 335,000 reserve
ST>    members being mobilized since Sept. 11, 2001, and the demand for
ST>    reservists remaining high, one doesn't have to look far to
ST>    determine what could be causing the shortage.

ST>    In Louisiana, 6,503 of the 9,541 members of the Army National
ST>    Guard and 917 of 1,504 members of the Air National Guard have
ST>    been called up since Sept. 11, according to the Louisiana
ST>    National Guard office in New Orleans.  Lt. Col. Pete Schneider
ST>    said that doesn't leave a lot of people to deploy.  He noted
ST>    that it's not just the war in Iraq but also recent hurricanes
ST>    that have put a strain on the forces.

ST>    "It's just a trying time for the entire military, and the
ST>    National Guard is playing a huge part of it," he said.

ST>    During a recent event near Fort Polk, Brig Gen. Hunt Downer,
ST>    a former state representative who is assistant adjutant general
ST>    of the Louisiana National Guard, said the strain on Louisiana
ST>    is significant.

ST>    Downer said Louisiana has more Guardsmen mobilized for the war
ST>    on terrorism per capita than any other state.  He also said
ST>    that during the first Persian Gulf War, the only state that
ST>    surpassed Louisiana in the number of people deployed was
ST>    California, and that was by 46 soldiers.

Some state has to lead the way.  It had might as well be the fine people of
Louisiana.  I'm reminded of the Louisiana car plates that used to say
LoUiSiAna - or something close.  By and large, the people of Louisiana are
quite patriotic 

--- Fidolook Lite FTN stub 
 * Origin: Bush, "Let's roll."  Kerry, "Let's rollover." (1:379/1.6)