01 July 2004

by Anai Rhoads

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AnaiRhoads.ord - Due to a recent need to increase the numbers of troops, many inactive reserve specialists are being involuntarily called back to duty.

"Army officials on Wednesday announced that 5,674 former soldiers, mostly people who recently left the service and have up-to-date skills in military policing, engineering, logistics, medicine or transportation, will be assigned to National Guard and Reserve units that are scheduled to deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan," the AP reported on 29 June.

Currently, the decision to re-call inactive reserves may not be as dire as the military suggests. Nearly 10,000 servicemen and women have been discharged from the military solely based on their sexual preference, according to the Pentagon. This significantly diminishes the urgency to re-inlist/re-call more men and women into service.

The Centre for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military (CSSMM) at UC-Santa Barbara released a report recently that shows the pattern of the military's dismissal of gays and lesbians between 1998-2003, of which included warfare specialists, medics and motor transport specialists.

"At a time when the military is forced to recall previously discharged service members on an involuntary basis, these data show that 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' has undermined readiness by depriving the armed forces of mission-critical talent," said CSSMM Executive Director Aaron Belkin.

The rounding up of reservists is typically only considered as a "last resort". This is the first activation of the inactive reserves since the 1990-91 Gulf war.

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