Letters from Baghdad

[tw]

Originally Posted by yesman065

Got a very unexpected call! (He) is heading out probably tomorrow or Tuesday - all depends on space available.

Does stop loss still apply to him?

[yesman065]

Originally Posted by regular.joe

Big Sarge, would you mind PM'ing me your AKO email addy please?

Yesman, would you mind sending me the first and last name of your friend so I can look him up on AKO? AKO stands for Army Knowledge Online.

1) pm sent
2) He was never in the Army - he is a Navy officer

[yesman065]

Originally Posted by tw

Does stop loss still apply to him?

Yes, he already stayed over his initial term.

[TheMercenary]

Well that does explain why he is not on any of the Army Data bases.

Glad to hear he is out of the crap hole and on his way home. Hey, was he reserved on AD or just full time AD?

[yesman065]

Merc, I have no idea - I'm not really too comfortable giving any more personal info either. I realize you all want to know if he is for real or not and all I can say is that his reputation is impeccable. I have zero reason to doubt him - none whatsoever.

[yesman065]

Originally Posted by Big Sarge

I know one of his photos is stolen from 2005.

Which one? Prove it.

Originally Posted by Big Sarge

This SCORPION report sounds bogus as hell. I have checked NIPR & SIPR & cannot find any similar reports.

I tried to post it, but since it was a pdf, I couldn't. I emailed it to UT - thought it was on here somewhere - oh well. Believe what you will.

[tw]

Originally Posted by yesman065

Yes, he already stayed over his initial term.

What are current limits (conditions) for stop loss? (Does he get to sell his bed to someone else?)

[yesman065]

Originally Posted by tw

What are current limits (conditions) for stop loss? (Does he get to sell his bed to someone else?)

How the hell would I know that? WTF?

[regular.joe]

AKO is transitioning to DKO, Defense Knowledge Online, we are a joint force these days more and more. It is possible to look for people in other branches of service now.

As far as "stop loss" goes, we are at war, on every contract are the following statements. Everyone signs this contract.

b. I understand that I can be ordered to active duty at any time
while I am a member of the DEP. In a time of war, my enlistment
may be extended without my consent for the duration of the war and
for six months after its end (10 U.S.C. 506, 12103(c)).
c. As a member of a Reserve Component of an Armed Force, in
time of war or of national emergency declared by the Congress, I
may, without my consent, be ordered to serve on active duty, for the
entire period of the war or emergency and for six (6) months after its
end (10 U.S.C. 12301(a)). My enlistment may be extended during
this period without my consent (10 U.S.C. 12103(c)).

[xoxoxoBruce]

Six months after the end of the GWoT would be , about the 12th of never.

[Big Sarge]

I should have kept my thoughts to myself or sent a pm to yesman. I was wrong in the way I handled this. I'm very sensitive about postings concerning OIF.

I am currently deployed on a United Nations mission. I previously served 13 months in Iraq and I will be going back in the second fiscal quarter of 2009.

yesman - I admit I was wrong in my approach. I sent my AKO data to regularjoe & I truly understand why you do not want to share his personal data.

[regular.joe]

Sarge, you've run into a great group of people here. Many diverse beliefs, world wide in nature. Don't let em scare you off.

The guy in question is in the Navy, explains the different or as we might see it, wrong usage of acronyms and operational terms. Different doctrine over there with the swabbys. I'm sure working with NATO you run into that. Talking about the same thing, in different military culture, and doctrinal terms.

You sound like a good guy, I look forward to getting to know you better here.

[tw]

Originally Posted by regular.joe

In a time of war, my enlistment
may be extended without my consent for the duration of the war and
for six months after its end (10 U.S.C. 506, 12103(c)).

Considering that "Mission Accomplished will easily be a decade long war, that is quite a contract. I did not realize stop loss applied that long.

Also interesting is the phrase "in time of war or of national emergency declared by the Congress". 'War' (legally) does not exist in Iraq. Therefore it becomes a "national emergency declared by the Congress". I don't recall that specific condition having being declared. But then such details get lost in the reporting.

So "Mission Accomplished" is a national emergency. Is Afghanistan (the justified war) a "war"? And for consistency, was Bosnia a 'war' or a 'national emergency'? A deployment authorized by the UN would not trigger stop loss?

[Big Sarge]

Stop Loss is usually applied when a unit is placed on alert for mobilization. We had it apply to some soldiers who were about to retire & a couple that went over age 60 while deployed. Also, it prevents a soldier from transferring to a non-deploying unit.

Most of the troops I have worked with haven't been too worked up over stop loss. Some of us get a little burned out, but it goes with the job.

[regular.joe]

Jesus, fuck what was said with this mission accomplished bullshit. Deal with the reality of the world. If it turns out to be a 10 year long struggle. So be it.

I can only speak for myself, as a member of the military. I don't give a damn about politics, sound bites and quotes.

About Iraq, which is what you are referring to. Lets just assume for a minute that i don't agree with what put us there. The fact is we are there, and have incurred a rather large responsibility. One we cannot now turn our back on. It doesn't mean that i should give up my job, and happily go about my business and say there is no enemy in the world.

No matter how the dice fall right now, it's a fucked up mess. Doesn't really matter to me, because ya'll are going to ask us, the military to take a front row seat in fixing it. It really won't matter how long it takes and who says what on TV.