24 Month Active Duty Time Limit No Longer in Effect for American Troops
Pentagon abandons active-duty time limit
By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon has abandoned its limit on the time a citizen-soldier can be required to serve on active duty, officials said Thursday, a major change that reflects an Army stretched thin by longer-than-expected combat in Iraq.
The day after President Bush announced his plan for a deeper U.S. military commitment in Iraq, Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters the change in reserve policy would have been made anyway because active-duty troops already were getting too little time between their combat tours.
The Pentagon also announced it is proposing to Congress that the size of the Army be increased by 65,000, to 547,000 and that the Marine Corps, the smallest of the services, grow by 27,000, to 202,000, over the next five years. No cost estimate was provided, but officials said it would be at least several billion dollars.
Until now, the Pentagon's policy on the Guard or Reserve was that members' cumulative time on active duty for the Iraq or Afghan wars could not exceed 24 months. That cumulative limit is now lifted; the remaining limit is on the length of any single mobilization, which may not exceed 24 consecutive months, Pace said. Read More
Defense Department Agrees to Reform Student Military Recruiting Database
To Settle NYCLU Lawsuit, Defense Department Reforms Student Military Recruiting Database
January 9, 2007 -- In an agreement to settle a lawsuit brought by the New York Civil Liberties Union, the Department of Defense today announced major changes to its database of information about high school students, which is used for military recruitment efforts. The changes will protect the privacy of American high school students and give students and their families more tools to exempt themselves from aggressive military recruitment in their schools and their homes.
The NYCLU sued on behalf of several high school students after the DoD's billion dollar Joint Advertising and Market Research Studies (JAMRS) military recruitment program began collecting, maintaining, and distributing their personal and private information, and that of millions of other high school students, in a rogue database. Under today's settlement, the DoD will:
stop disseminating student information to law enforcement, intelligence or other agencies and instead limit use of the JAMRS database to military recruiting;
limit to three years the time the DoD retains student information;
stop collecting student Social Security numbers; and
establish and clarify procedures by which students can block the military from entering information about them in the database and have their information removed. read more
Called Back One Too Many Times
Third Time's the Harm
By Dave Newbart The Chicago Sun Times Thursday 28 December 2006
Steven Henderson served his country during two tours of duty as an Army sergeant in Afghanistan - repeatedly coming under enemy fire and seeing fellow soldiers maimed and U.S. helicopters gunned down.
The Chicago native is back home now after being honorably discharged 20 months ago. He's married and working toward a college degree - but the Army has called upon him again.
A letter he received two weeks before Christmas orders him to report to Fort Benning, Ga., by Jan. 14. Under the order, he is required to fight in Iraq for a period "not to exceed 545 days."
But this time, Henderson says he will not serve his country.
Story Update: Steven Henderson was told may have his return to active duty post-poned but will have to report at some point. He is worried about others, not just himself.
Ex-Bragg paratrooper freed after serving AWOL time
The Associated Press
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — A former paratrooper who admitted abandoning his post because he disagreed with the U.S. mission in Iraq was freed from a military prison Saturday, stopping in Raleigh to greet supporters before he headed home to Washington state.
Ricky Clousing, 24, left Fort Bragg without permission in June 2005 after returning from a five-month tour in Iraq, where he worked as an interrogator in a military intelligence battalion.
The Sumner, Wash., native surrendered to the military at Fort Lewis, Wash., in August, and was returned to North Carolina to face a court-martial.
Spc. Suzanne Swift released from jail after AWOL charge
Suzanne Swift was charged with AWOL in September of 2006. She was released from jail in January of 2007 after her case became public and many organizations became involved on her behalf. Most people are not so lucky. Read more about Suzanne below.
"Spc. Swift, facing a redeployment to Iraq while serving under the command of the same individuals that allowed her to be raped and sexual harassed, suffered a breakdown due to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and went absent without leave rather than subject herself to the horrors she experienced during her first tour of duty." suzanneswift.org
