Ted Strickland Takes on the Backdoor Draft

Breach of Faith
On April 9th President G.W. Bush announced the early deployment to Iraq of 13,000 soldiers comprising four U.S. national guard units to include the 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team in Little Rock, Arkansas; the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team in Oklahoma City, OK; the 76th Infantry Combat Team, Indianapolis, and the 3,600 troop-strong 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team in Columbus, OH.

Within 24 hours, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland posted a letter to the president.

“As you are aware, the 37th Infantry Combat Brigade Team was originally in line for possible mobilization in 2009. The timeframe has been moved up dramatically. This is a significant departure from the commitment made to Ohio soldiers and their families, and I believe it is a breach of faith,” he wrote. He noted that more than 9,000 Ohioans had been deployed since 9/11 and that the 37th, also called the Dragon Brigade, was initially informed that it would not be deployed for at least another two years. The brigade includes units from Columbus, Walbridge, Bowling Green, Tiffin, Sandusky, Marion, Piqua, Springfield, St. Marys, Cleveland, Austintown, Akron, Lima and Medina. The Medina unit is the 1-134th Field Artillery Service Battery.

At the end of May, the U.S. Department of Defense alerted 160 soldiers in the 838th Military Police Company in Youngstown that they were to report Fort Dix, N.J., in September. Having yet to hear from the president in regards to his first letter, the governor sent a second and similar letter, this one certified.

The breach noted by the Governor was one of a string of broken promises that would burden families in Ohio and across the nation.

The day after the Governor sent the letter, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates stepped before microphones to announce that effective immediately, all active duty soldiers deployed or going to combat area would have their one-year tours extended to 15 months.

“They have set in motion a process that could easily break the Army over the next couple of years. It is setting the Army on a descending spiral. You make the job harder, you make the tours longer, you put additional stress on families – all of which makes it harder to recruit new people,” Edwin Dorn, former Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, told the Washington Post after Gates’ announcement.

In his letter to the president, Governor Strickland wrote, “I am asking for your assurance that prior to deployment, every Ohio soldier has the most up-to-date equipment, including individual body armor systems, M-4 rifles and other weapons systems, night vision devices, and up-armored type wheeled vehicles. I am also asking for your assurance that every Ohio soldier has appropriate training.”

The governor is right to seek such assurances. After a May 4 tornado destroyed Greensburg, Kansas, the states’ governor, Kathleen Sebelius, said state’s response will likely be hampered because much of the states national guard such as tents and semi-trailers is in Iraq. She is not the only governor with such a problem. CBS reported that nationally, the average national guard unit has about 40% of required serviceable equipment. Ohio has 65% of the equipment it needs to train and fulfill its mission. It leads the nation. Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, Chief, National Guard Bureau, told a congressional subcommittee earlier this year that, “88 percent of the forces that are back here in the United States are very poorly equipped today in the Army National Guard.”

There are hints and suggestions that these changes in deployment, readiness are not temporary circumstances.

The May 9 issue of Washington Post quoted Lt. General Raymond T. Ordierno, commander of Multi-National Corps, Irag, as saying, “The surge needs to go through the beginning of next year for sure. What I am trying to do is get until April (2008) so we can decide if we can keep it going or not.”

Lengthening duty tours and accelerated deployments will no doubt have an affect on an already-strained military. This February the New York Times reported that the Army has lowered acceptance standards for new recruits. USA today published an article that same month stating that only one-fifth of the officers in the Individual Ready Reserve are willing to remain in the Army owing to their concerns about being deployed. As many as half of these essential officers may be planning to leave or take early retirement. Another article in the New York Times reported desertion rates rose 27% last year. Some 3,196 active-duty soldiers deserted.

The governor closed his initial letter saying, “I look forward to your response and assurances.”

The President has yet to show the governor of one of the nation’s most populous states the courtesy of a personal reply.
—Mac Overmyer

This article ran in the June issue of Common Sense, Medina County's only Democratic newspaper and is cross-posted at www.medinacountycommonsense.com.