Sgt. Leanne Duffy: With no plan apparent, GIs in Iraq slowly becoming frantic

[minibush1]

Sgt. Leanne Duffy: With no plan apparent, GIs in Iraq slowly becoming frantic

By SGt. Leanne Duffy
September 23, 2003
I am a National Guardsman of the 105th Personnel Services Detachment out of Lincoln, Neb. My unit and I are stationed in Kuwait at Camp Wolf. We were deployed Feb. 2. We arrived in Jordan in April and half of us were moved a week later to Kuwait to throw mail.

When our unit came back together in June we had an order to go home but it was revoked and we ended up replacing an active Army unit. When replacing the active unit we were told our date to go home was Dec. 1.

We now hear that we will be here for a full year. We are under 3rd Personnel Command. They say that when they decide who stays and who goes, it's not by how long soldiers have been deployed, just by unit necessity.

My unit processes incoming soldiers and helps soldiers redeploy for theater. We are doing a great job and are working hard to treat each soldier with care and consideration as they come past our desks. They have spread our 44 soldiers out to replace an active unit that had over 50 and to replace a National Guard unit that had over 60 soldiers. Not only are we running 24-hour operations seven days a week for these two units, but we have four of our soldiers on the redeployment side working validation for another unit! We are spread so thin and are working so hard that these knocks on our morale are devastating.

Yes, we are physically able to finish our mission, but mentally and spiritually we are dying.

If retention for the Army National Guard is of any importance, current members need to have faith in our government and our leaders. Right now, where we are, we can't see anyone taking a stand for the soldiers (as it isn't just us being treated this way but many, many soldiers).

This isn't a simple board game of Axis and Allies, this is a game people are playing with real people - people with families, not robots. You have college students out here (like me) missing over a year of college to sit and get yanked around without explanation. It has been told to the officers I have spoken to that 3rd PERSCOM refers to moving soldiers as "drug deals." You do this for me and I'll make sure your soldiers go home, etc.

Yes, without a doubt my duty is to serve my country despite her faults. I have learned I will not be able to get education and training services while I am here and I am accepting that. I am here to serve out of obligation and duty. What I'm wondering is if there are any checks and balances for those who are making decisions here?

Everyone keeps saying it is up in the air, including the personnel responsible for deciding who is going where. It feels as if every decision is off the cuff. In this situation there should be plans in place and decisions made before the rubber hits the road.

We are slowly becoming frantic. I hear people saying they are going to begin hurting themselves or others if they can't go home. The helplessness our soldiers are feeling is indescribable, it is past the point of "suck it up and drive on." We just want somewhere to drive on to.

Thank you for allowing me to bend your ear.

Sgt. Leanne Duffy is from Superior, Neb. E-mail: leanne.duffy@us.army.mil.

Published: 7:11 AM 9/23/03

fyi

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

I hope she isn't punished for giving her POV. She tries to be diplomatic but she's clearly criticizing her superiors including the civilian leadership.

 

[jpeyton]

Let's just hope our soldiers make it back to the states in time to vote next November.

 

[Tab]

This isn't a simple board game of Axis and Allies, this is a game people are playing with real people - people with families, not robots. You have college students out here (like me) missing over a year of college to sit and get yanked around without explanation.

Is she blonde?

 

[KGB1]

This isn't a simple board game of Axis and Allies, this is a game people are playing with real people - people with families

Haha... and what was going on to Iraq for over 12 years after the first Persian Gulf war. They were thrown into limbo, scared, frantic, politicians and beaurocrats playing a game with their life. Now they are getting a taste of how those people felt and are becoming worried?

 

[charrison]

My boss got accidnetly demobilized about a month ago due to a glitch in paperwork. He may get remobilized again in the near future. He is not thrilled about the thought of being recalled again, but he knows this is what he signed up for.

 

[UltraQuiet]

Originally posted by: BaliBabyDoc
I hope she isn't punished for giving her POV. She tries to be diplomatic but she's clearly criticizing her superiors including the civilian leadership.

I do. I hope she gets sh!t hammered. Maybe some time without those Sgt. stripes will remind her that there is a time and a place for everything and that whining in public is not acceptable behavior for an NCO.

 

[burnedout]

A whining REMF she is. Enough said.

 

[dahunan]

Did your Boss sign up to be sent out of the country for one full year?

Isn't that a little ridiculous to force the National Guard reserves to stay in a hostile country for a year or more?

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Remember the general who gave less than glowing assessments about Iraq? Don't remember his name, I remember Rumsfeld saying he was entitled to his opinion. Shortly after, he was shown the door. If a general can be treated roughly, you can bet she will too.

 

[charrison]

Originally posted by: dahunan
Did your Boss sign up to be sent out of the country for one full year?

Isn't that a little ridiculous to force the National Guard reserves to stay in a hostile country for a year or more?

He signed up for all the reserves involves. He got recalled for the first gulf war and this one. Most of the recalled reserves are not in iraq, but back filling the positions left opened by those that went to iraq.
He did not go to Iraq this time.

 

[tnitsuj]

BEGIN RANT

PSD sucks. Not that this particular person sucks, but every experience I have ever had with a PSD has been uniformly bad. How often can they f$ck up your paperwork "orders what orders, we never got your orders sir...no sorry Sergeant such and such is out today, maybe he can pull them up, come back on Tuesday" ARGHHHHHH, your move, your reibmbursement. EVERY SINGLE FSCKING TIME. Except for the one at Walter Reed, they did a good job.

RANT OVER

 

[CaptnKirk]

Sergeant Toast, bring the fork to stick in her, she's done.
(Maybe that's what she really wanted - to get out of there)

 

[Bulk Beef]

Isn't that a little ridiculous to force the National Guard reserves to stay in a hostile country for a year or more?

What is with the public misconception that service in the Guard or Reserves somehow exempts one from overseas deployment?