They Published My Letter

[ 0 ] September 27, 2007 | Amanda

Ok, so I was completely outraged by an article in the August issue of Military Officer I HAD to write a letter to the editor. I had gotten an e-mail awhile back that they were considering my letter and I needed to clarify a few things. I grabbed October’s issue out of the mailbox today, and there it was, first letter with the picture of the issue I was writing about and the extracted quote and everything! So, without further ado, here’s the copy and pasted version.

Guard Retention
I couldn’t even finish reading the [August issue of Military Officer] without responding to the article “No Longer in Reserve.” To say that most Guard soldiers will stay after these lengthened deployments after the way the Army has treated them is absolutely preposterous. Sure, recruiting numbers are up. … [But] what about the seasoned veterans? When my husband’s unit came back from Iraq, you better believe anyone and everyone who could retire did just that. Even my husband said after 16 years, he’s “too old for this.” Who do you want watching your back on a combat mission? A fresh-faced recruit, or that guy over there with five or 10-plus years?
And the way the families get treated? Oh, I could go on for days. As Guard families, we’re not necessarily near bases and posts where there’s more support and facilities for us to take advantage of. It’s, “Sorry, but your spouse is leaving for 18 months, and now you have to cope.” I am so tired of seeing Guard soldiers and their families treated like the red-headed stepchildren of the Army. A soldier is a soldier. In fact, Guard soldiers are more self-sufficient because of their civilian backgrounds. If everyone waited for [the] group to get off their duffs, nothing would get done in a lot of cases.
And to say that the government wouldn’t send soldiers who weren’t properly trained or equipped – I literally laughed out loud when I read that. I’ve seen it time and time again. For whatever reason, DoD does not take the National Guard seriously. The government needs to stop looking at recruiting numbers and look at the retention of the more experienced crowd. Maybe it’s time to take power away from the president to call up the Guard and give it back to the governors of the states.

If you couldn’t tell, I’m just a little excited about all of this. I hope two things come of this letter. Number one, that it inspires the other soldiers and spouses to voice their opinions and stand up for what is right and not what is necessarily the “Army way.” I think it’s time for some major changes there. And number 2, I hope someone of importance sees not only my letter but those who are also brave enough to write letters of their own and make these changes. We’re only going to lose more seasoned soldiers if they and their families continue to be treated the way they are now. Case in point. The Army needs Captains and there’s an article on Military.com about how they are throwing retention bonuses of up to $35,000 to any Captains that will stay on active duty. Seems they’re getting pretty desperate if you ask me.