Tell Congress to Support a Sensible Deployment Tempo for Our Troops

I received the following CALL TO ACTION from Bobby Muller the President of Veterans for America (VFA) asking folks to sign a petition for members of Congress to get behind a bill (one of the series of such if you don’t lose count) that forces the Pentagon to provide adequate troop dwell time (we called it R&R back in the day) between never ending deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Bills similar to this were previously introduced by Senator Jim Webb of Virginia but failed to have strong support in the House that is now dominated by Democrats. Time is ripe to do something meaningful to really support our troops, and as the sign above clearly shows Uncle Sam wants all true patriotic Americans to support our troops.

I frankly prefer to add bans that would limit the ability of the Pentagon to recall members of the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) to only those members voluntarily assigned to a Ready Reserve Unit or specifically one that trains on weekends (an actual National Guard or Reserve Unit trained and ready NOT just any combat vets who have barely completed their transition to civie life. If these guys and young women really wanted to go back to join their comrades in Iraq or look forward to going to Afghanistan there should be enough time remaining for them to reenlist not be forced to fulfill a six to eight year commitment. Either that or make it clear to any recruits now signing up that they are in fact signing up for six to eight year active duty, and By God keep them on active duty.

I also would add an amendment making STOP LOSS highly illegal without Congress and the President declaring a National State of Emergency AND telling the American people that WE are in a Global War on Terror for the immediate survival of our homeland. Put another way, Congress and the President-elect must pass legislation that makes recall of the IRR and Stop Loss only necessary when THE DRAFT is implemented. If the nation is not in a state of emergency or war for our very survival, then recall of IRR and Stop Loss was and is never warranted. The only excuse for these extremes is they are legal technicalities that allow our government to AVOID IMPLEMENTING THE DRAFT.

Regardless, please go to the link provided by VFA and let the President and Congress know how you feel about not giving adequate time for our troops to readjust to being home between combat tours. Stop loss and recall of standby IRR members aside, I believe that the Democrats and others who support our troops have the votes needed to get this bill to President Obama.

Robert L. Hanafin, Major, U.S. Air Force

Please co-sign our letter to members of the House Armed Services Committee urging them to support Rep. Ellen Tauscher’s bill to increase dwell time for our service members.

Today, a long-overdue bill is being introduced in Congress by Rep. Ellen Tauscher [Link to Video] which calls for increasing dwell time for our service members who will serve in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Current deployment policies and operational tempo, which usually consists of a 1:1 ratio of time deployed and time at home, are compounding the wounds of war for our troops. It is a medical fact confirmed by DoD studies (see Mental Health Advisory Team reports IV and V) that repeated exposure to high-intensity combat with inadequate dwell time greatly increases the incidence of service-connected psychological problems.

In June 2007, the DoD Mental Health Task Force reported that almost half of the members of the Guard and Reserve who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan are experiencing such problems, as are 38% of active duty Soldiers, and 31% of active-duty Marines. Those percentages — and the damage done to our troops and their families — will only increase if more troops are deployed with inadequate dwell time.

This bill, which would restore an approximately 1:2 ratio of time deployed to time at home, will help ensure that our brave men and women in uniform have the time they need to rest, recuperate, and retrain.

I, and all of us at Veterans for America, urge the members of the House Armed Services Committee and all members of Congress to support this important legislation. The well-being of our service members depends on it.

Please join us in calling on congress to provide more dwell time for our troops. Click here to sign our letter to the House Armed Services Committee encouraging them to support this bill.

V/R,

Bobby Muller
President
Veterans for America

P.S. Please forward this email and ask them to tell Congress to give our troops more dwell time.

Robert L. Hanafin

Readers are more than welcome to use the articles I’ve posted on Veterans Today, I’ve had to take a break from VT as Veterans Issues and Peace Activism Editor and staff writer due to personal medical reasons in our military family that take away too much time needed to properly express future stories or respond to readers in a timely manner.

My association with VT since its founding in 2004 has been a very rewarding experience for me.

Retired from both the Air Force and Civil Service. Went in the regular Army at 17 during Vietnam (1968), stayed in the Army Reserve to complete my eight year commitment in 1976. Served in Air Defense Artillery, and a Mechanized Infantry Division (4MID) at Fort Carson, Co. Used the GI Bill to go to college, worked full time at the VA, and non-scholarship Air Force 2-Year ROTC program for prior service military. Commissioned in the Air Force in 1977. Served as a Military Intelligence Officer from 1977 to 1994. Upon retirement I entered retail drugstore management training with Safeway Drugs Stores in California. Retail Sales Management was not my cup of tea, so I applied my former U.S. Civil Service status with the VA to get my foot in the door at the Justice Department, and later Department of the Navy retiring with disability from the Civil Service in 2000.

I’ve been with Veterans Today since the site originated. I’m now on the Editorial Board. I was also on the Editorial Board of Our Troops News Ladder another progressive leaning Veterans and Military Family news clearing house.

I remain married for over 45 years. I am both a Vietnam Era and Gulf War Veteran. I served on Okinawa and Fort Carson, Colorado during Vietnam and in the Office of the Air Force Inspector General at Norton AFB, CA during Desert Storm. I retired from the Air Force in 1994 having worked on the Air Staff and Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon.