The Capulets Vs. Montegues ... or Active Duty Vs. Reserve

As most of you know, I've spent a good deal of time away from home, starting last August. Some will remember the month long hiatus I took from work in July in which many 4loko were purchased, many movies were watched, many memories were made. When I told people I was going to be deployed, they asked when. The easiest answer was sometime in the early months of 2011, but there would be roughly six months of training that will lead up to it before I headed over. August-October 10th was spent in Wisconsin and Ft. Knox. October 10th through the beginning of the year was spent at Ft. Hood.


This is a bi-product of our training.


Needless to say - if you read the article, and read the comments - I am quite offended and extremely frustrated with this age-old feud between the active duty components and the reserve components, which is what I fall under.  So. Here is my response to a few of those comments.




Quit whining, Soldiers! Mad cause you couldn't go out drinking and clubbing every night?


-First of all. This congressional addressed many more issues not stated in this article other
than the prohibition of alcohol. It was eight pages long, stating regulations, describing in full
detail all of the issues we had through-out the entire MOB process. Our orders were for 400
days but that doesn’t count the two months of active duty TPU soldiers spent doing RTC and
gunnery before heading to Ft. Hood.


Some reservists don't get it. when in the Middle East there isn't much alcohol, you are confined to base, and can't wear civvies. What kind of Army did they think they were getting into? Boy Scouts can't even go home at night (leave the base) when at Camp Makajawan for two weeks.
178 Honorable Discharges.....and immediately please.


Actually, at least half of our task force has veterans from the Gulf war, Bosnia, and at
least one tour to Iraq previous to the current one we’re serving. There are also many who have previously been active duty and then switched to the reserves.  We don’t “get it?” How about months before active duty is slotted to go to war, they get sequestered from their families and get their basic rights taken away so they can “acclimate” to the way its going to be over here. Did we expect to train hard? Yes. And we did. There were field training exercises every other week, all of the staff worked 12 hours a day, everyone was allowed one day off a week... but on the majority of the weekends, when the active duty unit training us went to go be with their families and we weren't running any kind of training operations what were we supposed to think/do? By the time our training was over, most everyone was saying, “I can’t wait to get to Iraq.” 
Also, being confined to base in Ft. Hood is one thing – being confined in a FOB in the middle of a war zone is another. Nobody is trying to sneak off the FOB to go find the hang out spots in Iraq. And let’s not fool ourselves, despite the rules, there are still alcohol related incidents IN country. Those who are irresponsible are going to be irresponsible no matter what general orders say and they should be dealt with accordingly, but don’t punish the entire BN.


That's the problem with reservists...they put the uniform on 26 days a year...and they just don't get it. The reason the active duty folks get "special" treatment is because they wear the uniform 365 days a year (yes, they miss some weekends, holidays, and other "special" events on a regular basis). The folks in charge of preparing the reservists to go into a combat zone feel that you need at least four months of dedicated training prior to risking your lives. Would you rather they give you "special" treatment and then let you get your --- blown off? Yes, this has been a long war and you have sacrificed...but your active duty brothers and sisters sacrifice themselves every day of every year. You can quit any time...can our active service members to the same
thing?


-Our training for this deployment has been a three year task of continual gunnery, TDY (temporary duty) classes for most MOS’s, and extended drill weekends for training – couple that with a civilian job, school, and a family. Not to mention those who are AGR (Active Guard and Reserve). They ARE active duty, and they continually give up one weekend a month to train with TPU’s on drill weekend. Also, there is no “quitting whenever you want to.” It is just as hard to for us to be discharged as it is for active duty. We have a contract as well. 6 years active reserve and 2 years inactive reserve is the shortest contract offered for a reservist. We aren't asking for “special treatment.” We’re just asking for equal treatment.


Lastly, I understand and agree with a longer segment of training for reservists before entering a warzone. However, hard work and training should be rewarded somewhere. There was no reward, there was no light at the end of the tunnel except to finally leave “The Great Place” and get to Iraq. I am one of the 178 who signed and PROUD of it. I’d also like to vouch for CPT Docimo and say that he is a very smart and capable, pilot, and company commander.


So that's it. Just needed to get those few things off my chest. 


Whew, I feel much better now.