Pentagon continues Recall of the IRR?

      We received this comment on a previous article on the unsavory practice of the Pentagon recalling members of the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR). A Checklist for Questioning IRR recall and Stop Loss

The Obama administration, including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, admitted that the practices of STOP LOSS was WRONG once a Soldier or Marine had been in combat or within a war zone. Gates promised to end the practice of Stop Loss by 2011, but given the Obama SURGE to Afghanistan, I doubt very much the administration will keep any promises regarding either Stop Loss or Recall of the IRR that were made or not.
Frankly, I do not recall anyone in the Obama administration saying anything about Recall of the IRR being wrong or ending the practice because recruits are supposedly told by military recruiters that they are committed to an eight year service commitment.
To ensure this is being done by military recruiters requires some watchdog organization(s) from outside the Pentagon to monitor military recruitment practices. However in the mean time, if you are deciding to ignore recall orders, please ensure you get legal advice.

      There are lawyers across the nation beginning to specialize in IRR Delays and Exemptions that could quite possibly get your recall delayed too close to the end of your service commitment to make recall practical or better yet get you an exemption. We post this link to just such a lawyer in order to provide legal resource reference on just how IRR members have gotten delays or exemptions.

ROBERT L. HANAFIN
Major, U.S. Air Force-Retired
GS-14, U.S. Civil Service-Retired
Editorial Board
VT News Network &
Our Troops News Ladder     VIA EMAIL FROM UPSET ARMY VETERAN

By Upset Army Vet on 2009-12-04
Today my wife came to my work and told me that I had gotten ‘the package.’ FedEx had delivered my recall paperwork. I knew that it was coming, because every Soldier that I served with in my former unit was recalled after the ETS date. Two of my former army buddies called me and told me that they had been recalled. I plan on not reporting whatsoever. I’ve been out of the Army for 6 months and recently have gotten married and have a child…not to mention I was deployed for over 12 of my active duty time overseas including Iraq and South Korea. I served my country and the Army Human Resources Command can kiss my ass!!!!

      Our advice to you before ignoring or challenging your IRR recall is to contact Courage to Resist or the GI Rights Hotline, tell them what has happened, and what you intend to do. They should be able to not only give you appropriate legal advice but also put you in touch with civilian legal representation qualified to represent you in a military court should it come to that. We strongly advise anyone to not simply ignore an order to report for duty without informed advice and legal representation.

      From GI Rights Hotline: While reservists in the military generally know that they may someday be called to active duty, many reservists are unsettled when the actual orders come. Some who became reservists after a period of active duty feel they have already “completed” their service. Others joined the reserves for extra income, job training, or college money, without ever really identifying with the active duty military.
Each year hundreds of people contact the GI Rights Hotline looking for information about reservists and mobilization. These include active reservists from the different branches, members of the individual ready reserve (IRR), and members of different states’ Army and Air National Guard.
Often people find the status of reserve components confusing. The military maintains reserve components for the express purpose of having extra forces available for mobilization whenever it is believed that these extra forces would be useful.
Editors Note: In all probability the Obama administration has not adequately planned for where the additional troops being sent to Afghanistan are going to come from thus having extra forces available in the IRR for mobilization is who they are going to tap. VT. Ed.

Title 10 of the USC allows the federal government (the President or Congress) to place on active duty reservists who are otherwise subject to Title 32 USC.
In some situations (such as currently in the Army) such activation also allows different branches’ Stop Loss/Stop Move Orders to extend a GI’s end of service date beyond the contractual obligation.  Although it can be waived, the 2008 Defense Authorization Act requires that mobilized reservists be given a minimum of 30 days advance notice.

Being mobilized can bring differing levels of hardship to service members who might otherwise have their military experience compartmentalized into “one weekend a month,” of annual training, or in the case of IRR members at most an occasional muster.

Receiving orders for mobilization to full time active duty often causes reservists to reexamine their relationship to the military. GI Rights Hotline counselors are available to provide a free, confidential consultation regarding the options for someone who is mobilized.

As mentioned earlier, the Obama administration “promised” to end the practice of Stop Loss come 2011 (about the same time Obama promised a pullout from Afghanistan). Those who continue to disagree with this policy must confront both the Congress and administration to debate the pros and cons of the draft should the Obama administration fail to keep such promises to end Stop Loss. Those in the IRR need to of course seek legal advice BEFORE deciding to ignore recall.

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.