UK’s Prince Harry fighting in Afghanistan
Written by artboy on February 28, 2008 – 3:05 pm -
Well, so the press has actually been able to keep their lips sealed. In an article on CNN.com, Prince Harry was deployed 10 weeks ago to Afghanistan and his fellow soldiers were sworn to secrecy. That is certainly one thing that is predictable, but I am amazed that British and international media — including CNN — had agreed not to report Harry’s deployment because of security concerns for him and his unit.
That begs the question, “Who leaked the story?” The military confirmed the operation after a U.S. Web site broke the news blackout. Georgy, was it you?
Source: www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/02/28/prince.afghanistan/index.html
Photo Credit: AP Photo
Tags: Afghanistan, British, media, Military, oil, press, Prince Harry, soldiers, Taliban, U.K., war
Posted in Military | 2 Comments »
An End to Stop-Loss and Involuntary Extensions?
Written by artboy on February 26, 2008 – 1:33 pm -
Wikipedia states, “Stop-loss, in the United States military, is the involuntary extension of a service member’s enlistment contract in order to retain them beyond the normal end term of service (ETS) or the ceasing of a permanent change of station (PCS) move for a member still in military service. It was first significantly used just before and during the first Persian Gulf War. Since then, it has been used during American military deployments to
“Federal courts have consistently found that military service members contractually agree that their term of service may be involuntarily extended, however the issue is still being debated in the public and political arena.” I’m not sure this procedure is adequately explained to potential recruits. It is generally only after service has begun that the concept actually sets in and it truly becomes apparent in times of conflict when it is instituted.
Most answer their call proudly even if the motivations of a conflict are not necessarily agreed with. In February of 2006, I wrote a letter to a handful of congressmen and women as well as to President Bush and his staff. I explained that I have had the privilege of knowing an individual over the last few years, a peace-loving dreamer that enjoys the diversity of the world and everyone in it. As an IRR soldier, he was suddenly recalled to active duty in January ‘06 with only 2 months left on his contract. He was already serving in
As you know, there have been millions of men and women that have honorably voluntarily served in the Armed Forces over the years. This administration has been continuously tainting that desire to serve in an all-volunteer force by not upholding the government’s contract for service. If a business were to play chess with the rules of a contract, morphing it to fit whatever situation they desire, invoking ill-defined statutes then that business would be hauled into court and probably be out of business relatively quickly. Agreed?
This government has an obligation to the men and women that have served this country past, present and future. That is to honor the commitments to them and the contracts entered into. How can any administration extend service members time in a combat zone longer than 12 months? That notion is a travesty and is essentially playing Russian roulette with lives. This in turn is opening wide the eyes of future service members that would have ever even considered service. Voluntary military service is quickly becoming something that is held at arm’s length, a non-starter and dying a steady death.
Not only will the parents of this generation do everything in their power to deter the desire for service unto their children, but those prospective members will run from service like the plague because no one will believe the government and its contracts. People are beginning to understand procedures like stop-loss. So, what does that leave for our future if there are no volunteers for service? I guess we all know that answer. We will become what we detest, a country that forces people to serve its needs. There would be one freedom gone forever.
Certainly war is ugly and changes people that voluntarily serve, but we want these citizens back as productive members of society and not as a generation of veterans that second-guess the word of others, particularly their government. The human body and brain can only sustain so much war in succession which is why there is tour of duty limits. Our government must stick to the legacy and honor of military contracts and uphold its end. A 12-month combat tour of duty is enough and more than we can ask for.
In an article on Yahoo! as reported by Anne Flaherty of the Associated Press, stop-loss seems finally to be taken seriously. An excerpt reads, “Top Army officials told a Senate panel on Tuesday that the Army is under serious strain and must reduce the length of combat tours as soon as possible.” Maybe this is a start. Even
Source: news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080226/ap_on_go_co/us_iraq
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop-loss_policy
Link: www.stoplossmovie.com
Photo Credit: AP Photo
Tags: conflict, Entertainment, family, involuntary extentions, love, marines, Military, movies, peace, pride, sacrifice, sailor, service, soldier, stop-loss, US Army, USMC, USN, war
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Reporting for Duty.
Written by admin on February 22, 2008 – 4:26 pm -
As a USMC Desert Storm veteran, I take great concern with the men and women in uniform across all branches of service. Use this space to communicate with them in whatever post they may be or share words with one another in support of their sacrifice. No matter the political issue, we will always support and respect all of those that volunteer in service to this country. As always with Couch Reporter, we welcome military news from others around the globe.
Tags: conflict, family, love, marines, Military, peace, pride, sacrifice, sailor, service, soldier, US Army, USMC, USN, war
Posted in Military | No Comments »
