Force structure (again)

A bit more on the early-outs being offered by the Navy.

A stop loss which goes into effect before the separation, cancels it (not clear from what I've read whether or not this would come into play if the stop loss becomes effective after the separation, but before the contract would have expired (i.e. can one be recalled).

It gets better... if one has extended (re-upped) the extension can be voided, if it started during the calendar year they are allowing to abandon ship.

So, in theory, one could leave as much as five years early.

TK

Abuse (FS)

I'm irked... only because I am just starting to deal with the issue.

If it plays out as it looks it might... I'll be shading to annoyed, then to anger, ire and finally (depends on how widely it spreads) to righteous indignation and wrath.

A friend of mine just got a letter, return receipt, from the Cal Guard, telling him he is being transferred to another unit and will be mobilised for OIF 3 (the next rotation to Iraq).

Funny thing is, he just got back in March, released from Active Duty in mid April (maybe late April... I need to ask).

So far I've not seen anyone else who's been so notified (and I think I'd've heard something), and I've not gotten such a letter, but...

My most cynical self thinks this may be because he is about to fall off of stop loss (that's why I need to find out when he was released, he may be just inside the 90 day window, of post-deployment retention) and this keeps him in.

If it is, well that sucks rocks

Just talked to him, he is past the 90 days, but there was a 1-year, involuntary extension [I take that to be the last Stop-Loss by specialty {i.e. MOS... I'll try to be kind, but as these go on I am too lazy to spell everything out, especially as that requires circumlocutions to make the meaning plain... if I'm too opaque feel free to ask for clarification}].


So, until I get some phone calls made (and not even then) I have no idea what's going on.

But we are supposed to be ineligible for call-up, overseas (OCONUS) for 12 months after we get back, and the word was that for two-years the only way for us to go overseas was going to be by volunteering. I may decide Kosovo looks even better than it does now.

Obama

Nothing more to say, he said it all.


"I stand here today, grateful for the diversity of my heritage, aware that my parents' dreams live on in my precious daughters. I stand here knowing that my story is part of the larger American story, that I owe a debt to all of those who came before me, and that, in no other country on earth, is my story even possible.

Tonight, we gather to affirm the greatness of our nation, not because of the height of our skyscrapers, or the power of our military, or the size of our economy. Our pride is based on a very simple premise, summed up in a declaration made over two hundred years ago, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

That is the true genius of America, a faith in the simple dreams of its people, the insistence on small miracles. That we can tuck in our children at night and know they are fed and clothed and safe from harm. That we can say what we think, write what we think, without hearing a sudden knock on the door. That we can have an idea and start our own business without paying a bribe or hiring somebody's son. That we can participate in the political process without fear of retribution, and that our votes will be counted-or at least, most of the time.

This year, in this election, we are called to reaffirm our values and commitments, to hold them against a hard reality and see how we are measuring up, to the legacy of our forbearers, and the promise of future generations.

(...)

A while back, I met a young man named Shamus at the VFW Hall in East Moline, Illinois. He was a good-looking kid, six-two or six-three, clear eyed, with an easy smile. He told me he'd joined the Marines and was heading to Iraq the following week.

As I listened to him explain why he'd enlisted, his absolute faith in our country and its leaders, his devotion to duty and service, I thought this young man was all any of us might hope for in a child. But then I asked myself: Are we serving Shamus as well as he was serving us? I thought of more than 900 service men and women, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, friends and neighbors, who will not be returning to their hometowns.

I thought of families I had met who were struggling to get by without a loved one's full income, or whose loved ones had returned with a limb missing or with nerves shattered, but who still lacked long-term health benefits because they were reservists. When we send our young men and women into harm's way, we have a solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why they're going, to care for their families while they're gone, to tend to the soldiers upon their return, and to never ever go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace, and earn the respect of the world."

There's more, but that says enough.