The deployments have been extended to 15 months for the Army. This is so that they can assure the soldiers coming home that they can at least get 12 months rest. I have been home since December of '05 and my unit is not schedule to go anywhere soon. So I am getting plenty of time home, and the other NG and Reserve soldiers will get plenty of time home as well, so this really only affects the active duty troops. And if this guy has been activated for 24 months, then they have to start paying him extra money from the time he was extended. That is $1,000.00 extra a month. I know because we had some guys with me in Iraq who were getting that.
And if you want to talk about Precedent, let's look at the Revolutionary War, Civil War, Spanish War, War of 1812, WWI, WWII, and Korea. All of these wars the troops had to stay there the whole time unless they were killed or seriously wounded. We are talking about several years. Vietnam started the 12 months in country deal. Desert Storm was not long enough. Bosnia is still 12 months although that missing is winding down. Bruce -----Original Message----- From: Zaphod Beeblebrox [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, October 01, 2007 6:04 PM To: CF-Community Subject: Re: The Iraq war sucks Also, aren't these deployments going on longer than they ever have before? There's something to be said for precedent. On 10/1/07, Zaphod Beeblebrox <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > What Bruce said is true, but I imagine they're going to have a heck of > a time getting people to sign up in the future. BTW, you don't think > going without your normal paycheck for 2+ years would be enough for > you to have to sell your house? > > > On 10/1/07, J.J. Merrick <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Very well laid out and I agree totally. The reserves is just that, The > > RESERVES. You can and in this day in age will be deployed. > > > > I know it is sad but something tells me that regardless if he was in > > Iraq or not they probably couldn't afford the house to begin with. > > > > BTW I hate the war just as much as the next liberal but we currently > > have a volunteer army and nobody is forcing these people to sign-up > > with the heavy potential that you will get shipped to Iraq. > > > > J.J. > > > > > > > > On 10/1/07, Bruce Sorge <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > I am assuming that her husband is in the Guard or Reserves. If this is > > > the case, I can't feel too sorry for her because her husband joined the > > > military part time, knowing that he could be deployed at any time. > > > Whether or not it was before or after they bought their house is not > > > important. If they bought the house and then he joined the military, > > > then he should have taken into consideration that he could be deployed > > > at any time, how much they were going to pay him, and if that would not > > > cover their expenses, then either move to a less expensive house or > > > don't join the military. If he was already in when the house was bought, > > > then once again they should have taken into consideration the fact that > > > he could be deployed, how much was he going to make, and then buy a > > > house that they could afford in case this were to happen. > > > > > > When I bought my first house back in '99, I was not in the National > > > Guard. We bought a house well below what we qualified for because I did > > > not want most of my civilian paycheck to go towards a house payment. I > > > thought that it would be a neat idea to actually have money left over to > > > enjoy other things in life. Later on after we closed on the house, I > > > joined the National Guard. Before doing so, I looked up how much a > > > Sergeant gets paid for being activated. Not deployed in a combat zone, > > > just activated for whatever reason. I determined that I could still > > > afford my house with the Army pay so I joined the Guard. Had I not been > > > able to, I would not have done this since I did not want to put my > > > family in Jeopardy financially. > > > > > > Now, if he is currently active duty, then how could he afford this house > > > in the first place? You make less money at your base than you do in a > > > war zone. When you are deployed to a combat zone, you pick up extra > > > money (imminent danger pay, hazardous duty pay and family separation > > > allowance) as well as not having to pay taxes while you are in the tax > > > exclusion zone. This can be several hundred to over a thousand dollars a > > > month, so he would actually be coming out ahead. > > > > > > Finally, if he is an IRR (Individual Ready Reserve. This is a pool of > > > service members who did their 2, 3 or 4 year hitch in the active duty > > > military, National Guard or Reserves, and are now on call for the > > > remainder of their contract, which is 8 years total. If the US needs > > > them, they get called up to go back in). So again, if this is the case, > > > then he should have done what I said in the first paragraph of this > > > discussion. > > > > > > And before anyone goes on about 'if we were not at war in Iraq, then > > > none of this would be happening to this poor family'. That is crap. No > > > one knows for sure when and if we go to war. So again, if you are in the > > > military, you need to make sure that your life is such that you can > > > handle being deployed for long periods of time. > > > > > > > > > > > > Bruce > > > > > > > > > Zaphod Beeblebrox wrote: > > > > I do real estate virtual tours on the weekend. This weekend I did a > > > > moderately priced house. It was a very well kept property. The > > > > little girls room had a really cute mural of a countryside with a > > > > white rail fence and a life size pony painted on it. The backyard had > > > > immaculately maintained landscaping along with a wooden fort/swingset. > > > > The rooms were all painted with nice colors, nothing too loud. > > > > Everything about this house expressed the owner's pride in it. > > > > > > > > The woman who was selling it was doing so because she couldn't afford > > > > it anymore. Her husband has been in Iraq over 2 years now. She's > > > > unable to make up the difference in pay. Unfortunately, I didn't know > > > > the situation this woman was in until afterward. I thought it odd > > > > that she seemed so emotional when I asked her if she painted her > > > > little girl's room. She seemed to be on the verge of tears during the > > > > time I was there. > > > > > > > > Meanwhile, we're going to ship another $190 billion to Iraq....... > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| ColdFusion 8 - Build next generation apps today, with easy PDF and Ajax features - download now http://download.macromedia.com/pub/labs/coldfusion/cf8_beta_whatsnew_052907.pdf Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:243529 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
