Military Officer - October 2007 - (Page 14)

yourviews MILIT ARY AUGUST 2007 $4.50 THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF MOAA | ONE POWERFUL VOICE® W W W. M O A A . O R G OFFICER Reserve Optempo A surge in troops deployed to Iraq puts a strain on America’s reserve resources 52 SPEED BUMP IN SENATE? Iraq timeline debate may delay “people fixes” 33 CHARGING AHEAD These 7 steps can keep you out of credit card trouble 68 “I am so tired of seeing Guard soldiers and their families treated like the redheaded stepchildren of the Army.” — Amanda Griffiths Aug_MOcover.indd 1 Guard Retention I couldn’t even ﬁnish reading the [August issue of Military Ofﬁcer] without responding to the article “No Longer in Reserve.” To say that most Guard soldiers will stay after these lengthened deployments after the way the Army has treated them is absolutely preposterous. Sure, recruiting numbers are up. … [But] what about the seasoned veterans? When my husband’s unit came back from Iraq, you better believe anyone and everyone who could retire did just that. Even my husband said after 16 years, he’s “too old for this.” Who do you want watching your back on a combat mission? A fresh-faced recruit, or that guy over there with ﬁve or 10-plus years? And the way the families get treated? Oh, I could go on for days. As Guard families, we’re not necessarily near bases and posts where there’s more support and facilities for us to take advantage of. It’s, “Sorry, but your spouse is leaving for 18 months, and 14 MILITARY OFFICER OCTOBER 2007 now you have to cope.” I am so tired of seeing Guard soldiers and their families treated like the red-headed stepchildren of the Army. A soldier is a soldier. In fact, Guard soldiers are more self-sufﬁcient because of their civilian backgrounds. If everyone waited for [the] group to get off their duffs, nothing would get done in a lot of cases. And to say that the government wouldn’t send soldiers who weren’t properly trained or equipped — I literally laughed out loud when I read that. I’ve seen it time and time again. For whatever reason, DoD does not take the National Guard seriously. The government needs to stop looking at recruiting numbers and look at the retention of the more experienced crowd. Maybe it’s time to take power away from the president to call up the Guard and give it back to the governors of the states. —Amanda Griffiths via e-mail 7/6/07 11:40:41 AM served — or are now serving — see things [“Fear The Peace Dividend,” “Washington Scene,” August 2007]. I realize this has been an on-going battle, and it probably will never get resolved whereby we are a nation defended by a very strong military force and are capable of defending that freedom that we all enjoy, anytime, anywhere. Keep up the good work and continue the outstanding battle that MOAA is continually waging with Congress to ensure that the military forces of this great country are recognized — and compensated accordingly — for the huge sacriﬁces they sustain every day defending our nation. —Lt. Cmdr. Allen Spousta, USN-Ret. via e-mail To quote the famous Yogi Berra, “It’s like déjà vu all over again.” After the fall of the Soviet Union, Congress, inﬂuenced by the propaganda machine of the liberal anti-military elite, demanded a “peace dividend.” They proceeded to gut the military by about 40 percent and spent the so-called dividend on many questionable projects, while ignoring the true defense needs of our country. … After the end of the ﬁrst Gulf War, the military strength of this country was allowed to fall below what common sense dictated. While military leaders knew this was foolish, few, if any, publicly spoke out against these cuts. Instead, the Pentagon bought into a fantasy scenario in which the military would be manned at a level to meet the needs of two regional conﬂicts. Well, we now have one regional conﬂict, and we are hardpressed to meet the personnel needs of this one region, never mind two. For the past 10 years, deployments of American forces have Peace Dividend It is too bad that Congress doesn’t see things the way those that have http://WWW.MOAA.ORG

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Military Officer - October 2007

Military Officer - October 2007 Contents From the Editor From the President Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Chapter Activities Cover Story: A Hero's Welcome? Partners in Patriotism Tales from Beyond the Battlefield Financial Results of MOAA Pages of History Information Exchange Faces of MOAA Member Books MOAA Scholarship Donors Advertising Index MOAA Member Services MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps Encore

Military Officer - October 2007

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