Soldiers Threatened with Iraq Duty to Coerce Re-enlistment

Published on September 17, 2004 By blogic In Politics

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - Soldiers from a combat unit at Fort Carson say they have been told to re-enlist for three more years or be transferred to other units expected to deploy to Iraq, the Rocky Mountain News reported Thursday.

Hundreds of soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team were presented with that message and a re-enlistment form in a series of assemblies last week, two soldiers who spoke on condition of anonymity told the newspaper.

"They said if you refuse to re-enlist with the 3rd Brigade, we'll send you down to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, which is going to Iraq for a year, and you can stay with them, or we'll send you to Korea, or to Fort Riley (in Kansas) where they're going to Iraq," said one of the soldiers, a sergeant.

The second soldier, an enlisted man, echoed that view: "They told us if we don't re-enlist, then we'd have to be reassigned. And where we're most needed is in units that are going back to Iraq in the next couple of months. So if you think you're getting out, you're not."

The sergeant told the News the threat has outraged soldiers who are close to fulfilling their service obligation.

This is how Bush supports our troops.

Comments

Deference

on Sep 17, 2004

Good follow up.

jesusstayscrunchy

on Sep 17, 2004

Yeah I posted this in another thread -- got a lot of flack from folks who say I shouldn't judge the workings of the army.

ShoZan

on Sep 17, 2004

Simply false, you can not be forced to re-enlist just like you are not forced to enlist, unless they are taking your damn hand and making you sign the line, than take your hand and force you to swear yourself in, it just is not the case. The whole issue was that one bad Reenlistment NCO or Enlisted or even Officer said that and it was wrong those soldiers should have gone to IG to get something done about it instead of whining to the press who will just make a story out of it and DO NOTHING for that soldier.

I think the whole misunderstanding is that right now all units are hurting for numbers so if you don't reenlist with your current unit right now you lack the ultimate choice of what unit you will go to IF you reenlist, after all it's right there in the post.

"They said if you refuse to re-enlist with the 3rd Brigade, we'll send you down to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, which is going to Iraq for a year, and you can stay with them, or we'll send you to Korea, or to Fort Riley (in Kansas) where they're going to Iraq," said one of the soldiers, a sergeant.

Does not mean YOU MUST REENLIST period, you can take your ass and leave unless they have a stop loss on you or your unit, but if it is a stop loss than reenlistment would not even be an option.

There is not any flak (or at least I tried hard not to) in my statement and to deny my statements is to deny the plain and simple truth that THEY WERE NOT FORCED TO REENLIST.

In the end the soldiers should have taken this complaint to IG so that way they could have gotten out instead of the press. IG would have sort it out and DONE something about it. When was the last time a newspaper helped you get out of the military or helped with anything?

This is not a political issue it is a military issue and military protocol issue. Ask former military (besides myself) if it is right to take a complaint outside the chain of command to a Media outlet, or to take an IG issue to a media outlet? What would get done with the media outlet that would not get done with IG? What would get done with the Chain of Command or IG instead of the media outlet?

ShoZan

on Sep 17, 2004

If they threatened with a Court Martial or UCMJ action than that would have been a FORCED REENLISTMENT, but it sounds to me like they only wanted to keep reenlisting soldiers at Carson which that tactic should still be complained about to IG.

Insightful

on Sep 17, 2004

Is this that back-door draft that they're talking about?

ShoZan

on Sep 17, 2004

REST OF THE ARTICLE:

The sergeant told the News the threat has outraged soldiers who are close to fulfilling their service obligation.

"We have a whole platoon who refuses to sign," he said.

An unidentified Fort Carson spokesman said Wednesday that 3rd Brigade recruitment officers denied threatening the soldiers with more duty in Iraq.

"I can only tell you what the retention officers told us: The soldiers were not being told they will go to Iraq, but they may go to Iraq," said the spokesman, who confirmed the re-enlistment drive is under way.

One of the soldiers provided the form to the News. If signed, it would bind the soldier to the 3rd Brigade until Dec. 31, 2007.

An Army spokesman, Lt. Col. Gerard Healy, said sending soldiers to Iraq with less than one year of their enlistment remaining "would not be taken lightly."

"There's probably a lot of places on post where they could put those folks (who don't re-enlist) until their time expires," he said. "But I don't want to rule out the possibility that they could go to a unit that might deploy."

Extending a soldier's active duty is within Army authority, since the enlistment contract carries an eight-year obligation, even if a soldier signs up for shorter terms. Members of Iraq-bound units can be retained for an entire year in Iraq, even if their active-duty enlistment expires.

"I don't want to go back to Iraq," the sergeant told the News. "I went through a lot of things for the Army that weren't necessary and were risky. Iraq has changed a lot of people."

The enlisted soldier said the recruiters' message left him "filled with dread."

"For me, it wasn't about going back to Iraq. It's just the fact that I'm ready to get out of the Army," he said.

ShoZan

on Sep 17, 2004

They are not forcing them to reenlist, but if they are reenlisting that if they don't sign to stay at Carson than they may be put into a unit that MAY go to Iraq.

The fact that they gave them the warning is alot better than not telling them and letting them think that they have NO CHANCE to go back to Iraq if they go to another unit.

Texas Wahine

on Sep 17, 2004

In the end the soldiers should have taken this complaint to IG so that way they could have gotten out instead of the press. IG would have sort it out and DONE something about it.

This is a good point.

However, I don't think it's neccessarily a bad thing for the public to know that this is going on. It does nothing good for the soldiers (it might actually make things worse) to go to the press, but it does something good for the public in that we are informed about what is going down as far as re-enlistment goes.

It also underscores the fact that many recruiters and those involved in drumming up re-enlistments put the pressure on hard. Potential soldiers should know that before going in. Regardless of what you are told, things are not always going to be prosperous and rosy. It's the Army. War is a part of the job. They need to be realistic about their expectations and know that they can be sent anywhere at anytime (to do pretty much anything) on the whim of the Army.

blogic

on Sep 17, 2004

My original title was "Soldiers Threatened with Iraq Duty to Force Re-enlistment". I've updated the title to better reflect the substance of the article. The JoeUser title field length limits are forever forcing me to edit, re-edit, and otherwis substantially rejigger my words. Sometimes, by the time I'm finished, I've forgotten what the hell the post was about.

pseudosoldier

on Sep 17, 2004

Reply By: jesusstayscrunchyYeah I posted this in another thread -- got a lot of flack from folks who say I shouldn't judge the workings of the army.

The flack you got from me was actually just about your off-topic comment to your own article...

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