Honestly - I am 100% against any extension of service and against calling up any more National Guard to serve in Iraq...
UNLESS this administration decides to grow a set (that we thought it had just a few short years ago) and FIGHT THE DANGED WAR.
The current effort makes me truly worried. We are in a position to have to call up NG, Reserves, and extend duty for a third-word rag like Iraq, what happens if/when we have to face a REAL war with a REAL opponent?
They are a REAL opponent. Much like the ones we’ll be facing for the rest of the 21st century. We better learn how fight them now.
My son’s best friend has a set hanging off the back bumper of his truck. Maybe he would let me mail them to Washington. I, too, am sad about the extended duty. I have seen up close and personal how this affects relationships. The wedding is off. He changed, she was not comfortable with the changes, and she has changed, too, and so they called it quits over the phone. Maybe it was all meant to be, but a lot of tears were shed over it. We all know that in the grand scheme of things, this was just a little story, but I can’t help but wonder how many times this has been multiplied. On the other hand, my mother gets so mad when people complain about these long enlistments. She was a teenager through WWII, and talks about how her older sister never laid eyes on her husband for 4 years while he traipsed all over Europe!! Their daughter was afraid of him when he came home; she didn’t know who he was. But he was a great guy, they went on to have 5 more kids and a happy marriage until the day he died. So it can be done, I guess it depends on what kind of people you are. I think the entire population of the USA needs to grow a set, now that I think about it. Stop the whining. Just knuckle down and get it done.