Cary Army reservist resists call (drafting *former* reservists)

Status
Not open for further replies.
W

w4rma

member
Joined
Aug 13, 2003
Messages
724
Location
United States of America
He says his duty ended, but the Army disagrees
By CRAIG JARVIS, Staff Writer

A Cary veteran who hasn't been in uniform in four years is resisting the Army's involuntary recall of reservists for the war in Iraq, arguing that his reserve commitment should have ended six months ago.

The Army doesn't dispute that former Lt. Todd Parrish served four years of active duty and another four years in the Reserve. But it says he's eligible for recall because he never formally resigned his commission as an officer.

Parrish, 30, says didn't know he had to resign. After he was clear of his service in the Individual Ready Reserve in December, Parrish married, bought a house and began preparing for a career as a civil engineer.

Then in May, he received orders from the Army to report to Fort Sill, Okla., by June 13 for processing and deployment to Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"It was a life-altering experience when I read the orders to report to active duty," Parrish said Friday. "I felt like I was being drafted without a draft being instituted."

Parrish didn't get anywhere arguing with the Army over the phone, so he hired an attorney. After a flurry of phone calls and letters, the Army gave Parrish until July 11 to report for duty while officers reviewed his case.

On Friday, attorney Mark Waple wrote to the Army giving it until Wednesday to determine that Parrish is exempt from recall. Otherwise, Waple says, he will file a lawsuit in federal court seeking an injunction.

"He hasn't lifted a rifle for about four years," Waple said. "If the Army were to have its way in this argument, you could have a 75-year-old man in the Reserve reinstated 35 years after he left because he failed to resign. It makes no sense."
…
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1393200p-7517016c.html

This guy (and there are many others just like him) has completed his contract to this nation and is now being drafted back into service. And the folks currently running the government are doing this, because they think they can get away with it.
 
...should have known better.
Click to expand...
Than to sign up in the first place? Is that what you mean? If so, I fully disagree.

Do you not believe that our government should uphold it's part of the contract and let him get on with his life now that he's long since completed his part of his contract?
 
Once an officer, always an officer; you're subject to recall for the rest of your life or until you resign your commission. Only enlisted men are free and clear after 10 (?) years. He wasnt double-crossed by our nation, he should have been told up-front about the ability of the govt to recall him.

Kharn
 
There is this thing called "Duty" and it doesn't revolve around your personal schedule... Maybe he will remember it from the three words he should have learned in the Army, DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY!
 
Because it's an ELECTION YEAR, our government can't do the honest thing and institute a draft - so they're using every trick in the book to get enough troops into service. They'll fix this for us as soon as we put them back into "public service" after the election. This is one of them. I'm sure Lt. Parrish was told when he was released about the requirement to resign his commision, it's no doubt hidden somewhere in the small print.
 
our government can't do the honest thing and institute a draft
Click to expand...

Not what they are looking for-what they are looking for are prior service people with experience. I really gets me to think there are still people out there who believe you can make a soldier/marine/airman/seaman in a couple of months of basic training. It takes a couple of years to season a lower EM, and at least that for a commissioned officer.

Is that what you mean?
Click to expand...

NO, thats not what I mean. The man IS a commissioned officer in the US Army until he resigns his commission. Trying to play stoopid is not going to get him any slack. 18 year olds may join on a lark-and many of us did, but this particular person is a commissioned officer, and I have a hard time believing he did not know the rules.
 
I'm willing to believe that he didn't know -- or didn't understand -- the rules, but that doesn't alter the fact that the rules are there, have been there for a long time, and he is subject to them whether or not he understood them. Let's not have any more comments about the government not honoring it's contract with him. The rules are different for commissioned officers than for enlisted personnel, and the one who is reneging on the contract is this officer, not the gummint.
 
"Trying to play stoopid is not going to get him any slack."

Agreed. He should have read the contract he signed. This kind of call-up has been going on since at least the Korean War. (I don't go back too much before then.)



w4rma - I hope you have a HAPPY 4th of July.

John
 
As an enlisted Marine, I knew that officers are always subject to recall if they don't resign their commisions. I find it very hard to believe that he didn't. And even if he didn't, it doesn't change anything.

On a related matter, CNN reported on the IRR call-ups, saying many soldiers didn't know about their IRR time. IT'S IN THE CONTRACT.
 
On a related matter, CNN reported on the IRR call-ups, saying many soldiers didn't know about their IRR time. IT'S IN THE CONTRACT.
Click to expand...
How can you not know? I thought the new, all-volunteer army was supposed to be better and smarter than the draftees I served with.

I ETSed directly from Vietnam, but I knew I was still "on the books" for a period of years. Don't remember how many, but I knew then, and I let go a healthy sigh of relief when the final days counted down without a recall.
 
Until you get that nice piece of paper that says....."Honorably Discharged" your @$$ belongs to Uncle Sam.

They told us that when I was in the USMC. I had my DD214 when my active duty time was up, but until my IRR was over, I belonged to the Corps. I even did a few years in the National Guard, and I was sweating bullets here until a few months ago. I had been tranfered to the IRR because of job conflicts, and one day I received a nice big manila envelope. There was talk about my old unit being called up (and they were), but instead of re-activations orders, it was my Honorable Discharge from the PA Army National Guard. My old unit is currently over playing in the sand.

This reminds me of all the reservists and National Guard soldiers who bitched and moaned when they got called up. Guess it was ok for the government to pay all their college bills, but when they were asked to honor their part of the contract some of them belly-ached...."what, I didn't know I might have to go to war??" :rolleyes:
 
Hey, I've never even been IN the service, and I know that officers can get recalled at any time, unless they specifically resign their commission.

I find it hard to believe that he served for 4 + 4 and never knew this.

And, even if he didn't know, what is it they say? "Ignorance of the law is no excus?"

Now, there are enlisted guys who honestly thought they were out forever who have been recalled for one reason or another who I have some sympathy for, but an officer should really know better.
 
Trebor said exactly what I was thinking from the start of the replies .....

""Ignorance of the law is no excus?"

Except I would've added an "e" at the end of "excus"......:D
 
It's true that this has been going on since the Korean War. My grandfather was a decorated officer in the tank destroyer battalions of WWII. He came home started a career, had 3 of his eventual 4 children ans recalled to be a Captain in the Army Reserve prior to the start of the Korean War.

Funny how officers of yesteryear embraced the responsibility of being a leader and that it appears that many of today's officers are only interested in that advanced paygrade.

Officers' rules of obligation are different than that of those for enlisted.
 
Do you not believe that our government should uphold it's part of the contract and let him get on with his life now that he's long since completed his part of his contract?
Click to expand...

Since you obviously have no clue as to what you're talking about here, do us a favor and don't talk about it. What's that saying about being thought a fool...?
 
I would think anyone who has ever served in the military would be aware of this. If your an officer, until you resign your commision you can be recalled, and if your enlisted, you serve 8 years minium. If you do a 2 year contract, you have 6 years IRR, you dod 4 year active/guard yo uget 4 years IRR. Im in the guard, just finished up my 6 year contract May 20, am in my two year IRR status, and am looking at being called back for Afghanistan this august, or Irag in dec/jan. Is this my first choice, no, I would like to finish school. Am I going to complain about it, again, no, I was aware of what my contract said, and I havent finished up my service to my country. I guess a lot of people want to get a free ride for school, or see the world, or whatever the reasons for joining were, and then not meet thier obligations. Thats kind of sad in my opinion.
 
Another Officer's perspective....

I am a career Army Officer....23 years now. Officers indeed fall under starkly different retention rules apart from any associated with "enlistment". "Contract" is not the term I choose...rather obligation. And I find it indefensible that he "didn't know"....sorry, Gents....just can't swallow that one. I applaud the comments in here that have it literally correct: Officers possess a significant investment made in them by our Nation....an investment worth our Nation's right to recall those skills in times of significant peril and otherwise exhausted personnel strength. To the reply made that this being an election year and our govmnt just not wanting to call it a draft....but rather "pulling every trick in the book..." Sir, this recall is worthy as it is a long standing recall obligation that has been "on the books" for decades. It makes operational sense, business sense, and social sense. A draft, exclusive of it's unbelievable fiscal costs, would largely only bring in untrained conscripts into the lower rank structure. But this recall brings in officers and noncommissioned officers who possess certain needed military specialties. They require no entry training....just refresher training of some sort as required. Personnel strengths in our critical military specialties are just that...critical. Remember, twas Clinton who ripped 9...yes NINE STANDING Army divisions from our military....not including the fleet strenghts, USAF Wings, and USMC assets. Small closing point: US Army Warrant Officers retain an inalienable recall obligation until age 60. Happy Independence Day, ALL. :)
 
w4rma quote,

"This guy (and there are many others just like him) has completed his contract to this nation and is now being drafted back into service. And the folks currently running the government are doing this, because they think they can get away with it."

Um, no, I don't think so. The problem is that his contract did NOT end, such to alleviate him from duty, because he did not resign his commission and so since the contract did not end, then he has not completed his contract to the nation.

Then again, it scares me to think that we might be sending this guy over as an officer when obviously the guy has some real issues understanding, evaluating, and properly acting on vital information.

This story sort of reminds me of several I have seen on TV or read in the paper where Reservists were called up and were either refusing to go or complaining about being called up because they didn't join the reserves to fight in a war. The joined for things like getting college money, extra income, and for conditioning and to have something interesting to do once a month...,but not fight in a war or go overseas. While not as bad, I had to laugh at and feel sorry for the spouses of one reserve special forces group. They were complaining that it wasn't right that their husbands were being called up for duty. I don't know about y'all, but of many of the reservists called up, I think I would want special forces to be among the first as they are supposed to be among the best.
 
I hope they don't recall my father. He's 85 years old. The last combat he saw, he was flying in a F6F Hellcat, shooting down Kamakazees. But even though he is 85, and suffering from senile dementia, he'd report to duty with bells on.
 
I do not accept Parrish’s “I didn’t know†rationale. EVERY officer understands that – until he resigns his commission – he serves at the pleasure of the President of the United States. This is neither a revelation nor is it unwarranted. This issue really is VERY simple: you voluntarily consent to a commission, you benefit from its inherent advantages, and you must accept the life-long duties and responsibilities of a commissioned officer.

Having now been commissioned for 35 years, I believe Parish’s conduct is shameful – truly conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline and also unbecoming an officer.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

D
  • Locked
Army declines to send reservist-congressman
Replies
8
Views
647
Pilgrim
P
S
  • Locked
Vet Called Up Years After Discharge Sues
Replies
16
Views
771
Sergeant Bob
S
2
  • Locked
Some military reservists will risk jail to resist Iraq duty
2 3
Replies
53
Views
1K
usafpi
U
F
  • Locked
Woman Shoots Motorcyclist: "Reasonable" or "Unreasonable?"
2 3 4 5
Replies
110
Views
4K
hso
hso
D
  • Locked
(MA) Reservist finally receives target license
Replies
3
Views
596
Standing Wolf
S
Back
Top