Last night I had a minor heart attack when I came across this post on Steve Gilliard's News Blog which he got from Daily Kos. I'll just copy and paste the actualy Army News Service story which was quietly put up on AKO. I'd link AKO, but if you don't know what it is, you don't have a login or password.
Army to transform IRR
April 4, 2006
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, April 4, 2006) – Individual Warriors will be the new label for Soldiers serving in the Individual Ready Reserve.
Simultaneously, the new name will lead to a cultural shift away from the unstructured group of inactive individuals into a cohesive group of Soldiers who are trained, aware and ready to augment Army missions when called upon.
Secretary of the Army Francis J. Harvey endorsed the move to reset and reinvigorate the IRR through several programmed initiatives to transform the Army’s leading prior-service talent bank.
“Senior Army leadership is committed to providing the necessary funding required to shape the IW initiative,” Harvey said. He added that Soldiers in the IRR will be a “viable pool” of individual warriors “trained and employable to meet the needs of the Army.”
Presently there are more than 100,000 Soldiers (enlisted and officer) in the IRR that represent more than 200 Military Occupational Skills ranging from combat arms and support to combat-service support specialties, but that could potentially be reduced to 60,000 ready and available Soldiers.
“While the mission of the IRR is to provide a pool of previously trained Soldiers who are ‘individually ready’ for call-up, our culture and past management of the IRR has made it difficult for many to accept that call-ups will become common practice,” said Maj. Nadine Kokolis, a mobilization officer in the Army’s G-1.
“In order to establish realistic readiness reporting, the Army is conducting a systematic screening of the IRR database to reconcile existing records and identify non-mobilization assets, and separate those Soldiers who no longer have further potential for useful military service,” added Kokolis.
The Army will institute an annual screening and training program for all assigned IWs who align with the Army Force Generation model – Reset/Train; Ready; Available. This program will be developed and carried out in order to maintain positive contact, administer refresher training as individual skills degrade and ensure the deployable readiness.
“Annual readiness screening is the heart of this initiative to ensure IRR members are deployable,” said Kokolis. “The Army will execute a pilot screening for approximately 5,000 Soldiers in fiscal year 2007; the goal is to institutionalize the entire screening and training program by fiscal year 2013.”
Recruiters and career counselors will brief all Soldiers entering the service and transitioning between components so they understand service obligations and training requirements in the Army Reserve.
Sara here again. Warriors??? Come on, that was the mascot for my HIGH SCHOOL. They started this Warrior propaghanda a few years ago, adding this Warrior Ethos thing. "Never leave a fallen comrade" and blah blah blah. Read Orwell's Homage to Catalonia to understand what a joke war is, even when you're really there. Hell, read the chapter in Colby Buzzell's book about 'Movement to Contact' and understand how pathetic our "Warrior" tactics really are.
I really hate these people. Especially now that they're threatening to drag me back into it. My reaction was a bit more colorful last night, but I've calmed down a bit (thanks, Jesse) and remembered how slowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwly things move in army land.
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7 comments:
There is a version on the Army's website that is accessible without an AKO account here. Just think: someone probably got a promotion for coming up with the "Individual Warrior" thing.
Okay, call me stupid, but I don't understand what the problem is. I see this announcement as simply 1) a semantics change (big whoop); and 2) a probably much-needed change in the way the reserves are managed, trained, and utilized. Am I missing something? It sounds like they are admitting the whole Army Reserve system is a disaster, with most of the reservists pretty much unprepared to serve on active duty, and they want to rectify that situation. Perhaps if more people really understood what signing up for the reserves means, they'd think twice, or thrice, before doing so. Who cares if they call them IRRs or IWs? The army has all sorts of colorful acronyms for everything. And as you said, they move at a snail's pace. We're talking 7 years from now? Your inactive reserve commitment will be long over by then, won't it? Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying war is great or the army isn't populated by idiots, especially those in command, but I just don't understand what the problem is with this particular announcement, so please, enlighten me. :)
The problem is, Gina, that the IRR traditionally (and even contractually) was INACTIVE. For all intents and purposes, you are not in the army. The program they are instituting requires reporting and training annually. That means wearing a uniform, having a piss test, firing a weapon, etc. Basically, the IRR is going to be the regular Reserves Pt II. The Reserves have nearly become activie duty as it is, so this is just one more sign that the army is stretching its limits and thus, one more sign that I could get called back.
Now, if you're thinking, "but Sara! You signed a contract! You knew this was part of it!" let me explain this. I joined in the year 2000. Clinton was president, we weren't fighting two wars. The IRR, it was very clearly explained to me, was for if WWIII broke out, the Russians invaded, North Korea nuked Seoul, etc. Basically, it was a real national EMERGENCY.
Aside from the whole moral repugnance of this particular war in Iraq, have you ever seen one of those annoying placards on the desks of beaurocrats that says, "Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine"? That's how I feel about getting called up for Iraq.
On the strictly personal side, I am no longer in the Army. Sure, I have this IRR deal, but emotionally I AM A CIVILIAN. The thought of putting on a uniform, carrying a weapon, standing in formation, saluting, standing a parade rest.... it's all so foreign and repulsive to me now. I simply cannot go back to that mindset again.
Hence, the freaking out.
NOOOOOOOO!
They can't have you!
I totally get that now, Sara. I was reading it to mean that the normal reservists were being renamed and were going to be trained regularly, etc. I actually joined the army back in 1978. I signed up for the delayed entry program (DEP). I changed my mind a couple of months later. Yeah, right. Try to get the army to understand that and let you out. Fortunately, not much was going on in 1978, so after many hystrionics on my part, they said "we don't want you in the army if you don't want to be here. We're not heartless." I think the fact that I was a female back helped back in 1978. It was still sort of new-ish to have women in the regular army. I think the recruiters would rather have not had them. So, they let me "DEP out" as they called it. BUT... I was on IRR for the next 6 years, as you well know. Not a problem in 1978. So, how long is your IRR commitment? 6 years from your separation date? Yikes! If that is the case, fortunately, it still does look like you should be completely separated by the time this new program goes into effect.
Better news, Gina! My total military commitment is 8 years from the day I signed up for DEP, so I've got until 07/08, plus I've got a deferrment until August, due to my recentish deployment. The problem is the "pilot program" that's going into effect in 2007. That's worrisome. Also, they have a tendency to call people up RIGHT BEFORE their time is up. All they have to do is recall you before your discharge date - after that, they can keep you as long as they like. Unlikely? Sure. Enough to worry? Certainly.
Time to say "FTA"!, Sara
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