There are some particular fields in the Army...highly specialized...which normally would never deploy into any hostile fire zone. The curious thing...is that some of these groups are like 30 or 40 personnel...so if all 40 go...and half don’t make it back...it’ll take years to replenish...retrain...and educate enough people to fill those slots. The AF has some guys who only do radiation testing...very small crew. They don’t deploy anywhere unless it has to do with their profession of “testing”.
I won’t say all of the 37,000 fit that category...but you have a huge number of language trainers...like Russian or Chinese or Arabic...who probably have never deployed. So to make this 37,000 trick work...they will have to dismantle their language classes for an entire year...and wait till the trainers return...then get recertified...which adds up to another six months extra.
I’m not sure this is a wise decision...but it is a fair decision.
Or you have officers filling in jobs such as Physics instructor at West Point and has been doing the job for the last 10-15 years. Somebody has to teach those cadets. I don’t think recruiters are being sent overseas except for volunteers and specific MOS.
As I was telling my wife, some MOS aren’t suited for the combat theater. If I was a physical therapist, I am needed back at a hospital to help the wounded soldiers.
I do understand what the Army is doing. My wife’s old boss who was a MAJ in 96 in the 25th ID Division, had 24 years and never deployed to any theater and didn’t have a combat patch. As she was one month from retirement, she got the call to stay in and pull her retirement. She did go to Iraq for a year and then retired a year later. During previous possible deployments she had jobs with no possibility of deploying. It just worked out that way.
Most of these 37,000 aren’t going to be out doing patrols or do convoys. They will be doing staff work in headquarters units. I think it will force some soldiers out as they realize or admit they aren’t medically qualified and will have to get out.
Besides, 37,000 is a pretty sizable chunk of the Army, close to 10%. I know there are some specialized jobs in the Army, but not that many.
The language specialists in the article are probably interpreters, not trainers, as all the language training being done in the Army is through contracted and DoD employed civilians. The language schools will never shut down, not for longer than a week at least (except holidays, of course) as the demand for interpreters that can be trusted - as opposed to local national interpreters - is exponentially growing as the Counter Insurgency Tactics are being more widely deployed.