November11, 2006:
The U.S. Navy, in order to help out the U.S. Army in Iraq, is
mobilizing some 6,000 reservists in the next year for service in combat zones.
These sailors will do support jobs, in areas where both services have similar,
or identical, specialists. Supply, maintenance and computer networks, for
example. The army needs this help to take the burden, of repeated overseas
duty, off their own troops. Most of the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan are
carried out by army troops. The more you send them overseas, the greater the
strain on their spouses and children. Hundreds of navy reservists volunteer for
this duty, without waiting to be activated. Not all the reservists are able to
serve overseas. Some have physical limitations, are close to retirement, or
simply want to be activated later because of family obligations. Thus the navy
only expects 80-90 percent of the reservists called, to be able to go to an
overseas combat zone. A small number just don't show up, and these are usually
expelled from the reserves.