IRR Call-ups: Bugs and the Band

Published on July 14, 2004 By pseudosoldier In Current Events

In the 19JULY04 issue of the Army Times, page 16, there is an article entitled "IRR troops' experience counts, vice chief says." This article sums up (with a positive slant) the potential call up of 5, 674 Individual Ready Reserve members and the alternatives available to the Army command. Basically, higher felt that calling up individuals in this way would be less of an impact than activating multiple Reserve units to cobble together an Active unit's equivalent strength.
"Letters warning of possible mobilization were sent to 5,674 IRR members, but [Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Richard] Cody said only about 4,000 will be needed to fill positions." This is the first I had seen mention that the number called up would be less than the roughly 5,600 constantly referenced in other news articles. Perhaps this scaling back is a backlash of the now almost-nearly-infamous Euphonium issue:
"Rep. Vic Snyder of Arkansas, ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services total force panel, noted that the call-up includes 15 people whose primary military skill is playing a musical instrument. Snyder has a high regard for military musicians, he said, but he asked, 'Is there no way to do without the euphonium player?' " (This comment was referenced by the Daily Show on Comedy Central a few nights ago, to good comedic effect. C'mon, it's funny, admit it.)
Contrary to what I expressed to SGT Madman, the euphonium is not a "shoulder-fired baritone." It's actually just a slightly bigger baritone (from what I saw on Google Images). I think there's a good chance they will cut these 15 individuals from the final call-up, just to try and avoid ridicule...
On the same page as the article, the Army Times supplied a handy table titled "Involuntary Call-ups" which details the MOS number, title and number of individuals in that MOS who face potential call-ups. Handy. No Golfs, but there are some Chucks (9) and a Jay (1).
There is also an entry: 72B entomology (4). Now, entomology is the study of insects. This didn't jibe with me. These are MEN OF SCIENCE! right? They're going to study migration habits of scorpions in the desert so we can avoid them? A better camel spider repellant? Link
With a moderate amount of digging, I figure that these guys are actually officers, and they don't deal with just "bugs," but other "creepy crawlies" that our soldiers might face. Whether they are MEN OF SCIENCE! is sort of undetermined.

Bonus track:
Same page in the Army Times prints a version of the article I talked about here: Link Not really anything new in this version, but that's not too surprising as it is AP fodder. He's supposed to report to Fort Sill on 10 AUG, and that report date was already delayed 2x for 30 days each time. "The Army has previously said that while enlisted soldiers' service automatically ends after eight years, an officer is subject to recall indefinately unless he resigns his commission." greywar thinks they should let this guy resign his commission like he tried to, and then hold him as an enlisted member in whatever hell of an MOS seemed most appropriate. Maybe 02U. Link

Comments

greywar

on Jul 14, 2004

Obviously the same twit who ok'd that retard safety video was the dude they vetted the call-up list with.

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