[geeks] Special skills draft?

[velociraptor]

On Thu, 23 Sep 2004 09:48:28 -0500 (CDT), Jonathan C. Patschke
<jp at celestrion.net> wrote:
> On Thu, 23 Sep 2004, Brian Dunbar wrote:
> 
> > It's been a while since I looked at my own contract but I recall having
> > the impression that once you had finished the standard eight years (be
> > that four years active, four years IRR or whatever) they couldn't reach
> > out and draft you?
> 
> You are correct.  They may -request-, but they may not demand.

However, if an individual remains on IRR to improve their 
retirement pay, they can be reactivated, and it's not a "request".

A family friend of a consultant I work with was reactivated at
67--he went to a US desk job so someone else could be re-
leased to the field.

The father of a friend of mine, late 50's was reactivated into the
Air Force.  He was still currently piloting commercial jets, so
they brought him back in.  Ostensibly it was to fly transports
US->Germany, but it turns out he was in Iraq.  He just came
back last week as he was in a Hummer targetted by insurgents--
sandwiched between two cars in a t-bone crash.  He got a 
bashed up face and a broken wrist, and considers himself 
lucky.  I don't know if he was IRR or not.

Another friend was reactivated into the CG--he was not re-
tired, and not IRR.  Because he runs his own business as
he was able to talk them down to reserve duty--they wanted
to ship him to Iraq for LE activities in coastal waters, since
he was a vet of the drug interdiction mess in Miami.  

So, if you are a "special skills" vet, I don't think that contract
is quite as clear-cut as you might think.

There's been quite a bit of press coverage about this in the
DC area, relatively speaking.

=Nadine=