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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (39935)	8/26/2002 10:07:32 AM
From: Karen Lawrence	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

15,000 reserves to serve second year By Dave Moniz, USA TODAY WASHINGTON — For the first time since the Vietnam War, the Pentagon will keep National Guard and reserve troops on active duty for as long as two years, military officials say. About 15,000 reservists — the vast majority of whom are in the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard — have been notified that their current military tours of duty could be extended to up to 24 months. Several hundred Army reservists likely will be kept on active duty beyond 12 months, as well. More than 76,000 reserve and Guard troops are on active duty in the war on terrorism, having been called up after Sept. 11. Although the nation's 1.3 million guardsmen and reservists know they can be called up for several years during wartime, there is no precedent for a call-up of two years since the all-volunteer military was created in 1973. The vast majority of reservists and guardsmen are part-time soldiers who hold full-time jobs and typically train one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer. Only rarely are most called to back up the full-time military. Even during the 1991 Gulf War, when 265,000 guard and reserve troops were mobilized, few served longer than a year. Troops on active duty The 76,518 Guard and Reserve troops now in service are assigned to: Army, 36,895 Navy, 6,525 Air Force, 28,214 Marines, 3,788 Coast Guard 1,096 Source: The Pentagon "This is stressful for families and for employers," says David Segal, a military sociologist at the University of Maryland. "Any time you change the rules it's hard." Among the troops whose tours will be extended are military police, pilots, intelligence officers and mechanics. The largest group who could serve a second year are 5,700 Air Force Reserve and Air Guard security forces assigned to protect military bases. "What has happened is that since America was attacked and we have the increased threat of terrorism, we have increased our presence not just at our bases in the United States but at our bases overseas," says Col. Tony West, the Air Guard's chief of security forces. West says the Air Guard is aware of the stress that the call-ups create for families and for employers. He says the Air Guard has tried to fill as many positions as possible with volunteers. It's unclear how U.S. employers will react. Last fall, dozens of companies offered to augment the salaries of those called to duty, many of whom lost income because their civilian jobs paid more than the military. The St. Paul Cos., an insurance firm in Minnesota, offered regular salary for 12 months to employees called to duty. Software maker Sun Microsystems in California has paid up to 60% of salaries and provided health insurance for two years. Known generically as military police, the Air Force's security forces do everything from guard gates to provide perimeter security at airfields. Lt. Gen. James Helmly, commander of U.S. Army Reserve forces, says the military is entering a new era in which many of the old rules about military service no longer apply. "We are facing something we've never faced before, a military campaign of undefined end state," he says. "It's a campaign that looks, smells and seems to be peacetime and yet one that can suddenly erupt into immense violence." Contributing: Stephanie Armour