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Urges wider call-up to meet commitments
Thursday, January 6, 2005 Posted: 8:51 AM EST (1351 GMT)
Lt. Gen. James Helmly says the Army Reserve is no longer able to meet its commitments in Iraq.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Pentagon's reliance on volunteers from the Army Reserve for duty in Iraq and Afghanistan risks creating a "broken force," the reserve force's commander warned his superiors in a December memo, and he urged a wider call-up of reservists to active duty.
In his memo, Lt. Gen. James Helmly stated that the Army Reserve is no longer able to meet its commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan, nor can it "reset and regenerate" units for future missions.
Reserve commanders spend too much time trying to accommodate troops who don't want to serve, leaving the force unable to meet its mission requirements, Helmly concluded -- the result of policies that were designed for peacetime, "as opposed to a mobilized force in wartime."
"While some have expressed surprise and indignation at being mobilized for this war, most have not," Helmly wrote in a December 20 memorandum to Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army's chief of staff. "They have understood it to be inherent in their volunteer contract for service."
In addition, offering a $1,000 monthly bonus to volunteers for active duty risks creating a "mercenary" culture in its ranks, he wrote...
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Thursday, January 6, 2005 Posted: 8:51 AM EST (1351 GMT)
Lt. Gen. James Helmly says the Army Reserve is no longer able to meet its commitments in Iraq.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Pentagon's reliance on volunteers from the Army Reserve for duty in Iraq and Afghanistan risks creating a "broken force," the reserve force's commander warned his superiors in a December memo, and he urged a wider call-up of reservists to active duty.
In his memo, Lt. Gen. James Helmly stated that the Army Reserve is no longer able to meet its commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan, nor can it "reset and regenerate" units for future missions.
Reserve commanders spend too much time trying to accommodate troops who don't want to serve, leaving the force unable to meet its mission requirements, Helmly concluded -- the result of policies that were designed for peacetime, "as opposed to a mobilized force in wartime."
"While some have expressed surprise and indignation at being mobilized for this war, most have not," Helmly wrote in a December 20 memorandum to Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army's chief of staff. "They have understood it to be inherent in their volunteer contract for service."
In addition, offering a $1,000 monthly bonus to volunteers for active duty risks creating a "mercenary" culture in its ranks, he wrote...
READ MORE