WASHINGTON – It could be a long weekend for thousands of former soldiers.
The Army says it will begin notifying more than 5,600 of those soldiers next week that they are being involuntarily recalled to active duty and could be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan as early as this fall.
“There’s going to be soldiers who, yes, will be shocked,” said Col. Debra Cook, commander of the Army’s Human Resources Command and the final arbiter of petitions for exemption.
Most of the former soldiers recently left the Army as truck drivers, mechanics, supply clerks, administrative clerks or combat engineers. All will be kept on active duty for at least 18 months but not longer than two years. The first formal notifications are due to arrive in mailboxes on Tuesday.
The call-up will be done in three increments from July to December.
Once notified of their call-up, reservists will have 30 days to report to a mobilization station for administrative and medical checkups, then be sent for refresher training in their specialty before heading to Iraq or Afghanistan.
The call-up is the first sizable use of the Individual Ready Reserve since 20,277 were mobilized during the 1991 Gulf War. Before that, the only other such call-up was in 1968 during the Vietnam War.
Army officials said Wednesday another call-up for Iraq and Afghanistan is likely next year.
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