Digging deeper for help in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army is recalling to active duty about 5,600 people who recently left the service and still have a reserve obligation.
In a new sign of the strain the insurgency in Iraq has put on the U.S. military, Army officials said Tuesday the involuntary call-ups will begin in July and run through December.
It is the first sizable activation of the Individual Ready Reserve since the 1991 Gulf War, though several hundred people have voluntarily returned to service since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., a member of the House Armed Services Committee, was briefed Tuesday on the call-up, and said it’s just another example of how the nation’s military has been stretched by the Iraqi war.
“Anybody who had any doubt that there’s a pseudo-draft happening in the U.S. military, this call-up should dispel that doubt,” Larsen said. “In my view, this is the wrong way to be treating the men and women in the military.”
The Everett Democrat also noted that thousands of troops whose service time was supposed to have been up have not been allowed to leave the military, and entire units have been told they will have extended service in Iraq.
He said the active duty component of the armed services is too small, and the administration is “over-stretching the military. We also have to deal with encouraging service members to stay in the military,” he said.
Unlike members of the National Guard and Reserve, individual reservists do not perform regularly scheduled training and receive no pay unless they are called up. The Army is targeting its recall at those who recently left the service and thus have the most up-to-date skills.
The Army is pinpointing certain skills in short supply, including medical specialists, military police, engineers, transportation specialists and logistics experts. Those selected for recall will be given at least 30 days’ notice to report for training, an Army statement said.
Bob Westphal, the service officer for the American Legion Post 92 in Stanwood, served during World War II and regularly comes in contact with former service members. He doesn’t think most of those called up will mind.
“If they need them, yes. I don’t see anything wrong with it. It’s a short deal,” Westphal said. “The military, especially the Army, is just spread so thin right now. They are all volunteers.”
In Everett, retired Navy service member Rene Taculad thinks the vast majority of those called up won’t object a lot.
“I imagine 85 to 90 percent of these people would like to stay in the service,” said Taculad, who runs the state Veteran Benefit Administration office in Everett.
Larsen said he’s trying to find out how many of those called up are from Washington. They may still have a military obligation, but some of them “may have fully integrated into civilian life and a call-up would be very disruptive.”
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