A disclaimer about the Navy and Air Force deaths is that some of them actually serve in country as part of their MOS. The Marines have no doctors and Navy corpsmen serve with Marine units to fufill this requirement. There are also Navy Seabees which build structures, not sure how many are working in Iraq with all of the contractors but my cousin is in the Army with a similar MOS and has been to Iraq multiple times for work on secret projects according to his father. The Air Force deploys typically for shorter tours than the Army or Marines of about 3-6 months to their bases providing support for the air war. See this story on Minnesota Air National Guard members including one who was in one of my classes who were sent at the end of April in the midst of a school semester for a tour in Iraq and returned to run a marathon. This is one year after another Air Guard member who I was friends with was sent in the middle of the semester for a four month tour. Once again not sure what exactly they were doing but it seems the base in Balad is key to waging the air war.

One our IVAW members was lucky enough to be close to his EAS that he was able to avoid being individually augmented to Iraq, he was a nuclear officer on submarine so I don’t know how that would have corresponded to the duties in Iraq. I also have a friend who is still in the Navy and went through most of the training but was not sent to Iraq as an individual augmentee.

The individual augmentee plan is as much a draft as the Stop Loss program is.

IVAW member on the Early show on being stop lossed

Casey reports from Kuwaiti staging area on the profiteers of the occupation

“Military men are dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy.”
~Henry Kissinger

As much as I am displeased with the misappropriation of our military for this illegal war I do consider this article to be a bit on the naive side. 1st of all all military has a contract that you sign and there is no “Comfort Chair” promised in that agreement. To put things in perspective: when a military man gets married he is reminded (as was told to him in boot camp) that the military did not issued him a wife. A contract can be made concerning what schools you get out of the military and other related matters. The Army screwed my brother out of an Army School that they agreed to give him in return for his service. He sued them, he won. Also, the idea that people in the Navy and Air Force are sissies is a myth. The majority of these people are heavy industry workers such as Welders, Mechanics, Machinists (You ever kicked over a Biker’s Motorcycle?), Boiler Techs, Firefighters, Police (Yes Cops!), etc,.. In short, they are all professionals and a lot of them are tough as nails. I was a Navy Corpsman and if you don’t know what that is then I suggest you go to there nearest Marine and ask him. My cousin and one of my childhood best friends both were Special Forces in the Air-force, the guys with the Blue Berets. My Uncle was in the Navy CB’s: heavy and dangerous construction. A guy I grew up with on my street joined the Navy and became a UDT. He lost his thumb in the line of duty and as a result could not, as a UDT, do his job without an opposing digit. He got transfered to the Beach Masters which not exactly wimps. A friend of mine who is a former Navy Seal is an underwater welder. They wear a different kind of “hard hat”. To his credit, he did work on the San Mateo Bridge and the Oakland Bridge. Another buddy of mine is an OEM. He will always be on call in or out of the Navy for the rest of his functional life. He is a diver and a specialist in disarming all classes of Ordinance. The point is when you sign a contract the U.S. Government to join the Military, for the most part, your ass is theirs. When they order you to do something legal in time of war (That is, not contrary to the UCMJ and other military regs) you made an agreement with them to “Obey all lawful orders”. I have more trouble with little boys who say “I want to be a soldier or a Cop when I grow-up”. Because what they are basically saying is “When I grow-up, I want to shoot a stranger with a gun”. There are little punks in my neighborhood that carry firearms and as soon as you catch them without their precious little Bang-Bang, they are nothing more than cowards. The Military is not a Democracy in itself and cannot be. Once a country is engaged in war, the majority of military decisions are made in the field. I know I will probably be peppered with all kinds of angry comments but that is the price I pay for dispelling Myths. Again, I am completely opposed to this war in the Middle East. Impeachment is a slap on the wrist. High Crimes and Treason have been committed by this Administration against the American People as well as people on the other side of the world and these liars, cheats, thieves and murderers should be dealt with in U.S. Courts and World Courts.

Rosebud: It’s one thing to complain about “sissy’s”, but quite another to complain about people upset that they are being used as cannon-fodder, because that’s what they are. You don’t train an infantryman for modern warfare in 6 weeks unless you intend to shovel him into a meat-grinder — that displays a lack of concern (as in, “So what, you moron? Go out there and catch bullets!”) about the welfare of the troops that is palpable.

To this day, I thank my lucky stars that I did not volunteer for reactivation on 9/11, because I would probably be dead or pernmanently crippled, by now.

Black, Re-read what I wrote. You are out of context. Also, catching a bullet is not an option. Any seasoned Military Vet will tell you that staying alive is your 1st priority. That is why the term “Lawful Orders” is part of the language of the UCMJ. Unfortunately, War is ugly and messy business. Look at the word “Infantry”. If the implications that word doesn’t upset a decent person, I don’t know what will.

P.S. I’m glad you are not dead or crippled, btw. :)