State of the Army

[pecunium]

I know I have a small readership, but recent events cause me to think it might be worth tossing a little bread on the waters.

This past week, while tooling about (I think it was to the airport to retrieve our guest from China) I heard news that the DoD was planning to call up the IRR.

That is, for those of you not up on Acronym, the Individual Ready Reserve... those soldier who are either within eight years of the date they enlisted, and have left active duty, or who have; for whatever reason, elected to take a Active Reserve contract and move it to the IRR (in the IRR one is not required to attend drill, the most one is expected to do is prove, once a year, that one still has a uniform).

The main difference between an IRR call-up and a Ready Reserve (Guard and Reserve troops who attend drill every month, you know, one weekend a month, and two-weeks a year) is that they can call people up one by one.

They need a mechanic, no need to call up an entire company, because we have one here in the IRR.

I can see two reasons for this, one there are not enough troops in the units they are calling up or they don't have the people in the ranks (officers are a bit different, technically they can be recalled to duty until they are dead, in practice this is rarely used, but the current Army Chief of Staff was so recalled).

In either case this is a bad sign, it means we can't meet the needs we have with the troops on hand. Rumor has it that some people are being selected not because they have military skills, but because the skills of their civilian jobs are needed in the Army (which explains things I heard about calling up linguists and tech specialists from the civilian sector... sort of a rough and ready version of what the Army calls cross-levelling).

It will also, I think, play poorly in Peoria. There are grumbles in the ranks about how the Active Reserves are being used too much, family members who are asking soldiers to get out (it's a maxim that if the spouse thinks the soldier should/can stay in, the soldier will, but if the spouse wants the soldier out, no more re-enlistments) and this is not going to go over well with husbands and wives who were happy the troop left active duty.

And those people have opinions, they are vocal. If one takes parents into account the 5,600 people being called up will have at least a thousand people who have strong feelings about the matter, and they will speak out... after all who is going to be able to tell them to keep quiet when they can retort... "My "x" is in Iraq right now."

But it bodes ill for our security... we are pulling water from deeper in the well, someday it will run dry.

TK

Comments

[inerlogic.livejournal.com]

yah i came off IRR in 2k2, wonder how long 'til they get desperate enough to call me up, heh heh...

i come from a very small, rather specialised MOS...

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it troubles me too. But sometimes we have to go to the well.

Back in early 91, I found myself Company Gunnery Sergeant of Combat Replacement Company C, 2nd Replacement Training Battalion, 2nd Marine Division. Most of my troops were IRR recalls. When I reported in I expected a lot of morale problems, and I was pleasantly surprised that none of my troops gave me a hard time. Oh, they bitched in the barracks, but they all fell right back into the mold of being Marines. It was a really impressive testament to the fundamental character of those men.

[sinboy.livejournal.com]

Well, yeah. This is what happens when someone like Rumsfeld, who belives in a numericaly small armed forces, gets into a situation where you really have to have a numericaly large armed forces. It's a clear sign that, despite the noise coming from Bush's team, things are bad there, and getting worse. I can't keep track of the number of orriginaly pro-war cheerleaders who've turned around and said "Hey, wait a minute! I didn't order this! Send it back!" There's only a few diehard folks who're left that aren't getting paid directly by the Bush administration, the Pentagon, or the armed forces.

From the Well...

[iamcompufrog.livejournal.com]

For a long time I was worried about being "called" due to my background and such. When I reached well into my 4th decade, I almost stopped caring...

Under a number of "laws" (edicts, etc.) pretty much ANYONE can be called into service. If it gets to that point, we'll likely be unable to communicate in this way... Too dangerous, too seditious.

Scares me, though... With Ashcroft so close to the throne...

The "well" has NEVER run dry in the US when folks believed that we had a "just and decent/legitimate reason to [go to/be at] 'war'".

I dunno, but I'm looking at VietNam and Cambodia (and a number of other "places") and the facts that show that our leaders were looking for nothing more than a Minor Excuse to go to Iraq and do there what was done in Panama (and Afghanistan)'.

This, too, frightens me.

Is it time to stop living in fear?
.. I think so, but not everyone else does.


sigh...

[airneail.livejournal.com]

My best friend was discharged from the army almost eight years ago after only serving three years, do you know if she's eligible? (She's off working a camp in the mountains right now and probably doesn't know about this happening yet).

I'm most worried about her brother, a cop, who just left the marines.

:(

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

The way the system works is that for 8 years, from the date of enlistment, one is obligated to serve, if called. Once called the IRR soldier can be activated for up to 24 months (longer by act of Congress.

So, if your friend did three years, she stopped being subject to recall five years later.

TK

[jennae.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info!

I *hope* it's not a bad thing, however, I am inclined to believe otherwise.

I have a friend (granted he is 30 yrs old) who has spent the last year and a half trying to get into the army. He's been met with nothing but red tape. He just recently got taped and is waiting for a background check, the most progress has been made in the last four months (perhaps because of need-based situation in the military?). I don't know all of the politics and policies involved, but it would seem to me that if there were such issues that it wouldn't be so damned hard for someone who so very badly wants to get enlisted to do so......

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

It depends on what he's trying for (the MOS he wants). One's recruiter also makes a big difference. Despite MEPS screwing up one of my exams (a special one, only given to people who ask, or for MOSs which require a language) I was enlisted in a week, even though a background check had to be started. it didn't have to be finsished and a check for wants and warrants was enough to get me to basic (Which ought to be enough for your friend... though it would mean he could be choosing a new MOS, if the results of the investigation led to his being denied the clearance).

For a TS the investigation can last two years, though usually less than one. On the other hand, back in '99 the DoD was so backlogged that military re-investigations (to see if someone had done something to make them no longer worth trusting, or more vulnerable to pressure) were suspended for about a year.

Brilliant idea.

So how many folks are in the IRR?

[(Anonymous)]

How big is the IRR pool? And how long can someone in the IRR be called up for?

Geoff (http://geoffarnold.com)

Re: So how many folks are in the IRR?

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

I have no idea how large the pool is. The usual enlistment is for four years, after which a person has a further four years of obligation (this is called a 4x4 contract, for reasons of benefits, I took a 6x2, but I digress).

A member of the IRR can be called up for a period of 24 months. I don't know what the rules are for multiple activations.

When my contract finally expires, I (with almost twelve years in) will not be subject to recall.

But the real difference in the IRR is that, unlike the RR (Ready Reserve) they can be called up onesie-twosie. An M-Day unit (Ready Reserve) has to be called up in companies, at the least. Which hinders some of the planning.

But the IRR is called up one at a time, so they can (if they want) call up a cohort, and not care what they were trained in, just send them to school and give them new jobs.

The other thing, which I forgot to mention is that the IRR, by its very nature is composed of those who have less service than the regular army (which is why they aren't put into units in large chunks). This means they have less experience in their jobs, less practice at standing up for themselves, and (until integrated) less identification with the unit, or the mission, which means no one cares as much about them.

If they were sent in to replace losses, they'd get killed in short order, because the guys they joined wouldn't want to spare them, they'd be looking out for their own friends.

It is not a good sign, though I don't think the Army is that ill yet, but it isn't a sign of good health.

TK

[jennae.livejournal.com]

I think my friend (fuats) is hell bent on being a pilot of some sort. It doesn't make much sense to me.

No kidding on the cease of re-investigations? That's some scary business right there...

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

Ah... that's part of it right there. Even for a helicopter pilot there is a lot of competition, and that means they can be picky, and wait for the SBI results to come back. Better to do something like that as a callow youth, than to wait for the full flower of manhood, because there is less to be checked.

Yeah, well the whole clearance proccess is a load of semi-useful bull, and once one has a clearance, there isn't a whole lot (save committing a crime, or being really</> stupid with money that will get a Secret revoked. A TS is a tad more delicate, but still... most people, even with a clearance, never handle anything classified, so the risk is minimal.

Even so, they did a rush job on the pending applications, and were back in the re-checking game withing six months.

TK