-------- Original Message -------- Subject: FW: Last step before the draft...? Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 17:34:55 -0400 From: Singleton, Norman <Norman.Singleton@private> I also read that the Pentagon will be using IRS data to track down reverses they have lost track of. > Phony Disengagement, Secret Escalation > > http://www.antiwar.com/sperry/?articleid=2596 > > May 18, 2004Phony Disengagement, Secret Escalation > by Paul Sperry <mailto:plogician@private> > W hile the Pentagon says it plans to scale back the U.S. occupation in > Iraq, it's quietly doing just the opposite, high-level internal e-mails > reveal. > > It has launched a massive nationwide call-up of former service members > across the country who have not fully completed their eight-year > contractual obligation to the US Army. They are known collectively as the > Individual Ready Reserves, or IRR, and they number more than 118,000. > > It's one of the last options the military has before drafting civilians. > And the move comes on top of rumors the Pentagon plans to redeploy to Iraq > some 4,000 US troops stationed in South Korea > <http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0518/p08s03-comv.html>. > > Call-ups for IRR members begin today, according to high-level Army e-mails > I've obtained. Those who don't report could face AWOL or desertion > charges. > > Ex-soldiers with time remaining on their contracts "are being sought for > activation and assignment to a deploying OIF [Operation Iraqi Freedom]/OEF > [Operation Enduring Freedom > <http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/defense/enduringfreedom.html> ] unit," > says Command Sgt. Maj. Luis A. Garcia of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division > in a May 13 e-mail to garrison sergeants major, under the heading: "IRR > Activations: IMPORTANT!" > > "Call-ups will begin 18 May. The Army is looking for 8,000 soldiers to > volunteer at first. After 18 May, separated soldiers may be located and > called up INVOLUNTARILY," his e-mail emphasizes. "These people will be > activated and ordered to report to any ARNG [Army National Guard] or USAR > [US Army Reserve] unit that needs them." > > Garcia adds: "Those that fail to report could face AWOL or desertion > charges. This is serious business." > > He cites a Pentagon-level e-mail he received two days earlier from an > official at the US Army Human Resources Command > <https://www.hrc.army.mil/indexflash.asp> headquartered in Alexandria, Va. > In that May 11 e-mail, Sgt. Maj. Antimo Bruno refers to a recent video > teleconference conducted by Lt. Gen. James R. Hemley, commander of the US > Army Reserve, in which the commander outlined the call-up plan for IRR > members. > > "Soldiers assigned to the IRR will start to be activated in support of > missions in Iraq, Afghanistan and other locations," explains Bruno, who > works in the transition branch of the Army Human Resources Command here. > > "The IRR will still be an option for soldiers exiting active duty, if that > is what they desire to do," he adds. "But with this new policy, the > likelihood of the soldiers being mobilized from the IRR has been greatly > increased." > > The new mobilization policy requires the authorization of Defense > Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who has bridled in public at calls for more > troops in Iraq > <http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-06-02-white-usat_x.htm>. > > _______________________________________________ Politech mailing list Archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Moderated by Declan McCullagh (http://www.mccullagh.org/)
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