THE US:Some reservists must pack up and leave for the Middle East with as little as a week's notice, leaving behind families and civilian jobs, writes Christian Davenportin Washington.
The house was in disarray, with dirty dishes in the sink, clothes on the floor and the rubbish bin overflowing. Stephanie Pyle felt awful that she had left such a mess for her housemate, who was on holiday, to clean up, but there wasn't much she could do. The army had told her she was deploying for war. Pyle, a sergeant in the Virginia army national guard, had good reason to be taken by surprise when she got word in June. Just two weeks earlier, she had been told that she was not mobilising with her unit. Then the situation changed, and Pyle (40), of Richmond, Virginia, was given a week to report for duty.
In that short, frantic week, she had to get her finances in order, take leave from her police job, drop college classes and say goodbye. There was not enough time to straighten up the house before she left. "It was crazy," she said.
As the war in Iraq stretches into its fifth year, the military continues to rely heavily on the army national guard and reserve, whose soldiers have been called up again and again in numbers not seen since the second World War.
Despite attempts by military leaders to ease the burden and make deployments more predictable, many of these "citizen-soldiers" continue to be mobilised on very short notice, leaving behind families and civilian jobs.
The Pentagon, aware of the strain the war has placed on the guard, has taken steps to alleviate the burden. It is trying to limit mobilisations to a year, although so far it hasn't always been able to do that. Some reserve units have been mobilised for 18 months or more.
And military leaders have vowed to make the deployments more predictable: one year on active duty for every five in reserve.
The goal, said Maj Thomas McCuin, an army spokesman, is to create a clear rotation schedule so soldiers "could look at a calendar and say: 'This is when my unit is going to go'."
The war in Iraq is the first major conflict since the draft ended in 1973. And unlike Vietnam, where the reserves were for the most part left at home, citizen-soldiers today are deploying to war again and again, at one time making up more than 50 per cent of the US army's combat force in Iraq. Sometimes, units have to scramble at the last minute to fill the ranks.
"There is a lot of back and forth, plugging the right people into the right spots on the battle roster," McCuin said. "Sometimes it doesn't seem fair, and you wished it worked out differently." Still, the army's policy is that soldiers get at least 30 days' notice that they're going to be deployed, he said.
And mobilisations shouldn't come as a surprise, even for those in the reserves, he said. Everyone who is in the army today "either joined after 9/11 or made a decision to stay", McCuin said. "And we all know there is a war going on."
Those who are called on short notice are usually filling in for soldiers who dropped out at the last minute because of illness, injury or family problems, he said. Even if called on short notice, soldiers can insist on being allowed 30 days before reporting. But guard officials said soldiers are encouraged to join their units as soon as possible so they don't miss training.
After almost 40 years in the military, chief warrant officer 5 Ray Johnson, of La Plata, Maryland, also knew about the demands of the army. But he was sure that his age (58) and his rank would prevent him from deploying, which is what he told his wife and civilian employer.
The call came in September 2005. He would be going to Iraq. His wife, Diane, cried. His fellow troopers at the Maryland state police, where he flies Medevac helicopters, gave him their support.
A few weeks later, another call came. This time he was told he wasn't deploying. His wife was relieved. His co-workers said they were glad he would be staying around.
Then another call came. There had been a paperwork problem, he said he was told. He would be deploying after all. Back and forth it went: You're going. You're not going. He said he felt like his head was spinning. "The uncertainty was the hardest thing," he said.
It wasn't until the following January that he was officially told to report.
Staff sergeant Douglas McManama, who received a Purple Heart after he was wounded in Iraq during his first tour, knew he would deploy again before the war was over.
"But I didn't think it would be so soon," he said, or on such short notice. The army wanted him to report in a week. But with three kids and a wife who is about to have knee surgery, he needed more time. So instead of one week, he got three.
Pyle said she wasn't told that she could have taken 30 days before reporting.
But even if she had known, she said she is not certain she would have taken all of the time and missed out on her training. She understands that war is chaos, and the job of a guard soldier is to go when called.
"I'm really trying to remember that I can't get distressed about things I have no control over," she said. "And my control ended when I raised my hand last March and re-enlisted." - (LA Times-Washington Post service)