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Post by jamesa46 on Oct 15, 2007 17:28:11 GMT -5
James, did you catch this article about the Minnesota National Guard? The get their deployment extended in the sand pit to 22 months, apparently the longest in the war. But, any orders written for less than 730 days doesn't qualify a soldier for the GI Bill for education benefits. 729 days or less and you're just SOL. www.wcsh6.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=71741"1st Lt. Jon Anderson said he never expected to come home to this: A government refusing to pay education benefits he says he should have earned under the GI bill. "It's pretty much a slap in the face," Anderson said. "I think it was a scheme to save money, personally. I think it was a leadership failure by the senior Washington leadership... once again failing the soldiers." Anderson's orders, and the orders of 1,161 other Minnesota guard members, were written for 729 days. Had they been written for 730 days, just one day more, the soldiers would receive those benefits to pay for school. "Which would be allowing the soldiers an extra $500 to $800 a month," Anderson said. Anderson said the soldiers he oversaw in his platoon expected that money to be here when they come home. "I had 23 guys under my command," Anderson said. "I promised to take care of them. And I'm not going to end taking care of them when this deployment is over, and it's not over until this is solved." The Army did not respond questions Tuesday afternoon". **** Well, they had better start answering questions. It would seem they could have let 1100 guys sit around at Ft Riley for 24 hours shining their boots so they would qualify. That just makes my blood boil. Crash- I did read that article with great interest. You can bet that those soldiers WILL get their benefits! We have a Senator here in Texas (Cornyn) who will make damn sure they are not shortchanged.
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Post by crashtest on Oct 15, 2007 17:31:59 GMT -5
I was listening to Dennis Miller on his 9 pm program the other night last week. He had a fine idea. He said that ANY soldiers who serve in a combat zone should not have to pay taxes for the rest of their lives. I wholeheartedly agree. The so-called greatest generation got to come back to a GI bill that provided them with educational benefits that gave many of them a college degree for free. They bought homes with extremely favorable interest rates. This generation of soldier comes home to red tape and bait and switch malarky that would make a used car salesman blush.
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Post by jamesa46 on Oct 15, 2007 17:33:39 GMT -5
Crash- For sure....both have certainly endured and have seen things we likely have not dreamed of in our worst nightmares.
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Post by jamesa46 on Oct 15, 2007 17:37:10 GMT -5
After deployment soldiers are routinely given a three day pass followed by 10 days of reintegration training. I do not know what they do with National Guard folks as far as reintegration training is concerned. Now if true someone needs a boot shoved up their four pointed contact as far as the GI bill is concerned. When your in a hot zone and combat...there's no such thing as a "National Guardsman"...you are a SOLDIER!....Period!
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Post by mikeinsa on Oct 15, 2007 20:59:06 GMT -5
The reference to "National Guardsmen" was not intended to be derogatory. It was meant as I know what the Army's policy is in reference to what happens upon redeployment, I do not know what the National Guard does.
One thing is for sure though there James, I do not need to be told what a soldier is.
Any man or woman who has the courage to que up and go is the salt of the earth as far as I am concerned.
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Post by crashtest on Oct 16, 2007 19:44:34 GMT -5
The reference to "National Guardsmen" was not intended to be derogatory. It was meant as I know what the Army's policy is in reference to what happens upon redeployment, I do not know what the National Guard does. One thing is for sure though there James, I do not need to be told what a soldier is. Any man or woman who has the courage to que up and go is the salt of the earth as far as I am concerned. Thanks, Mike. It seems the National Guard has done more than its share of fighting - especially considering its relative role in past conflicts. It also seems that National Guardsmen are more susceptible to the vagaries of a "719 day" deployment that regular Army, but I could be wrong. Kenneth has been given combat patches by several units, including the AA of the 82nd Airborne. They told him his company could fight with them any day of the week.
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Post by texiban001 on Oct 17, 2007 6:50:44 GMT -5
The National Guard gets plenty of grief from the regular Army until they serve with them. The guard is TOP NOTCH in my book!
My hat is off to the ARMY, NAVY AIR FORCE, MARINES AND NATIONAL GUARD UNITS EVERYWHERE!
P.S. Coast Guard does not count seeing as how they are part of the Dept of Homeland Defense.
Why do you have to be 6' tall to serve in the Coast Guard? So you can wade to shore if the boat sinks! (Old NAVY joke!) ;D
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Post by mikeinsa on Oct 17, 2007 11:08:15 GMT -5
During Vietnam we had Guardsmen that were sent over there without proper training and without proper equipment and they preformed poorly as a result. A lot of good men died due to poor leadership decisions. The Guard bore the brunt and were made fun of by regular army guys and I admit I participated. I was young, dumb and full of myself.
That was the old war, in this new war the Guard still gets the oldest equipment but now they are trained and perform on a par or better with the best of the regular Army units.
As I said before I know what the Army does with its returning soldiers. If the National Guard does the same thing then those troops that were deployed for 719 days will have to go through reintegration training that will last a minimum of 10 days where they will see doctors and sociologists etc to make sure they know how to behave in normal American society again. If that 10 days is tacked onto their orders and it will probably be then they will qualify. If they do not then we should all make it our mission to get these troops what they deserve. They have fought, some have died, some have been injured, but all carry the memories home. They should be afforded the same considerations as I was. It is the only right thing to do.
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Post by texiban001 on Oct 17, 2007 13:06:26 GMT -5
Agreed.
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Post by crashtest on Oct 17, 2007 21:12:34 GMT -5
Well said. Thanks again, Mike.
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Post by mikeinsa on Oct 18, 2007 8:22:24 GMT -5
I just got an email from my son. Yesterday he celebrated his birthday by attending a ceremony for a fallen comrade. Several of his group were wounded and one died the day before the rest of them were scheduled to fly to Kuwait. My son was fortunate all he got out of the deal was a slight burn and a sprained wrist. He is not scheduled to leave for Kuwait until next week.
It is going to be a long week.
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Post by texiban001 on Oct 18, 2007 9:40:54 GMT -5
Let's hope time speeds up and your son gets to Kuwait with Godspeed.
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Post by jamesa46 on Oct 18, 2007 17:24:19 GMT -5
The reference to "National Guardsmen" was not intended to be derogatory. It was meant as I know what the Army's policy is in reference to what happens upon redeployment, I do not know what the National Guard does. One thing is for sure though there James, I do not need to be told what a soldier is. Any man or woman who has the courage to que up and go is the salt of the earth as far as I am concerned. Mike - I understand. No explanation needed. I was just trying to enforce the fact that our National Guardsmen are soldiers who are highly trained military professionals who put their lives on the line everyday. Thus they are soldiers in the truest meaning of the word. My apologies for any misunderstanding. -James
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Post by mikeinsa on Oct 18, 2007 22:27:52 GMT -5
No problems James.
Putting thoughts down on a keyboard is a lot different than looking a man in the eye. Sometimes on a keyboard you have to take another step to make sure your thoughts are understood.
We both have our sons over there and are walking in each others shoes. God help the man that disrespects either branch of service. He will have 240 lbs of ugly all over his ass.
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Post by tbone421998 on Oct 19, 2007 15:47:30 GMT -5
We will pray for the best for both you Mike and James. I do hope this week goes by fast. My son has gotten orders to report for his 3rd tour on January 2. He will ship out of Japan.
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