Us
Print
E-mail
Rate
More than 200,000 reservists still on duty
By THOMAS HARGROVE Scripps Howard News Service
America's so-called "weekend warriors" are still in uniform even though President Bush declared an end to "major combat operations in Iraq" nearly two months ago.
More than 200,000 reserve and National Guard troops are still on active duty because they have critical peacekeeping skills and because tensions still run high throughout the Persian Gulf, military experts agree. The current active reserve force is just 2,300 less than the number of part-time troops on duty when the Iraq war broke out March 19.
"It's just the way the military has structured its forces. We can't rely only upon active duty troops because many of the competencies - the skills - that we need are found only in the reserves," said Charles Cragin, former assistant defense secretary for reserve affairs under President Bill Clinton.
According to Pentagon mobilization reports, 56,695 men and women from reserve units were on active duty at the beginning of the year. That figure rose rapidly during the military buildup in the Persian Gulf, reaching 212,617 in mid March and hitting a peak of 224,528 troops by the end of April. The number began a slow decline starting last month as some medical and combat-related units returned home.
But last week's report showed there are still 210,256 reservists on active status. Their withdrawal is not expected to occur as quickly as the buildup, creating many hardships around the United States, experts predict.
"We've lost the head of our electrical department. He's still on active duty," said Jimmy Ramage, mayor of the small town of Brundidge, Ala. "We haven't had anything seriously go wrong and we've been able to make do these last few months. But we do miss him."
He said Brundidge, a town of 2,300 people, is lucky the lights haven't failed following the activation of the Alabama National Guard's 900th Maintenance Co. that took away Jerry Reynolds, head of the town's electrical co-op department.
"I know a few people have been coming back. But don't be fooled," Ramage said. "There are still thousands of Alabamians on active duty."
Slightly less than half of America's 2.6 million military are in the so-called "Stand By and Ready Reserves" that include Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force reserve units as well as National Guards from across the country.
"This pattern has its roots in the post-Vietnam era when the Pentagon consciously decided to really make use of its reserve and Guard forces," said Kurt Piehler, director of the Center for the Study of War and Society at the University of Tennessee. "We saw this in the 1980s when National Guard units were sent on training missions throughout Central America, making the Guard very much a part of the Army."
Since then, the reserves have faced a dizzying number of deployments in all of America's major - and most of its minor - military operations. The Pentagon has dedicated much of its regular forces for combat, giving the reserves a disproportionate burden for peacekeeping operations.
"About 97 percent of the civil affairs folks are in the reserves. Those are jobs like police officers and people who know how to run public works facilities and transportation facilities," Cragin said. "They have been used almost constantly in Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, and now in Afghanistan and Iraq."
In the meantime, combat operations continue throughout Iraq, as demonstrated by Tuesday's attacks in southern Iraq that killed six British troops. Continued fighting will further slow the withdrawal of even those reserve units that have a purely military role, such as the Army's reserve artillery companies still stationed in the Persian Gulf area.
"President Bush announced the end of major combat operations, and I emphasize the word 'major,' " Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz said last week. "Smaller combat operations in Iraq continue. ... How long this phase of the war will last is, of course, difficult to predict."
More than 200,000 reserve and National Guard troops are still on active duty because they have critical peacekeeping skills and because tensions still run high throughout the Persian Gulf, military experts agree. The current active reserve force is just 2,300 less than the number of part-time troops on duty when the Iraq war broke out March 19.
"It's just the way the military has structured its forces. We can't rely only upon active duty troops because many of the competencies - the skills - that we need are found only in the reserves," said Charles Cragin, former assistant defense secretary for reserve affairs under President Bill Clinton.
According to Pentagon mobilization reports, 56,695 men and women from reserve units were on active duty at the beginning of the year. That figure rose rapidly during the military buildup in the Persian Gulf, reaching 212,617 in mid March and hitting a peak of 224,528 troops by the end of April. The number began a slow decline starting last month as some medical and combat-related units returned home.
But last week's report showed there are still 210,256 reservists on active status. Their withdrawal is not expected to occur as quickly as the buildup, creating many hardships around the United States, experts predict.
"We've lost the head of our electrical department. He's still on active duty," said Jimmy Ramage, mayor of the small town of Brundidge, Ala. "We haven't had anything seriously go wrong and we've been able to make do these last few months. But we do miss him."
He said Brundidge, a town of 2,300 people, is lucky the lights haven't failed following the activation of the Alabama National Guard's 900th Maintenance Co. that took away Jerry Reynolds, head of the town's electrical co-op department.
"I know a few people have been coming back. But don't be fooled," Ramage said. "There are still thousands of Alabamians on active duty."
Slightly less than half of America's 2.6 million military are in the so-called "Stand By and Ready Reserves" that include Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force reserve units as well as National Guards from across the country.
"This pattern has its roots in the post-Vietnam era when the Pentagon consciously decided to really make use of its reserve and Guard forces," said Kurt Piehler, director of the Center for the Study of War and Society at the University of Tennessee. "We saw this in the 1980s when National Guard units were sent on training missions throughout Central America, making the Guard very much a part of the Army."
Since then, the reserves have faced a dizzying number of deployments in all of America's major - and most of its minor - military operations. The Pentagon has dedicated much of its regular forces for combat, giving the reserves a disproportionate burden for peacekeeping operations.
"About 97 percent of the civil affairs folks are in the reserves. Those are jobs like police officers and people who know how to run public works facilities and transportation facilities," Cragin said. "They have been used almost constantly in Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, and now in Afghanistan and Iraq."
In the meantime, combat operations continue throughout Iraq, as demonstrated by Tuesday's attacks in southern Iraq that killed six British troops. Continued fighting will further slow the withdrawal of even those reserve units that have a purely military role, such as the Army's reserve artillery companies still stationed in the Persian Gulf area.
"President Bush announced the end of major combat operations, and I emphasize the word 'major,' " Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz said last week. "Smaller combat operations in Iraq continue. ... How long this phase of the war will last is, of course, difficult to predict."
 |
 |
|
| Bulk of Iraq war losses fall on just a few states | More rain plus more mosquitos may not equal more West NileBy DANIEL YEE |
