House Passes Rest for our Troops

[DeadCanDance]

House Passes Rest for Our Troops

The House has just passed H.R. 3159, Ensuring Military Readiness Through Stability and Predictability Deployment Policy Act by a vote of 229-194.

The bill mandates troop rest times equal to their deployment times, similar to an amendment by Senator Jim Webb, D-Va supported by 56 Senators as an amendment to the defense authorization bill. It would require active duty forces to be guaranteed that their time at home match the length of their deployment. National Guard and reservists would be home for three times the length of the deployments. The bill would allow the President to waive these requirements to meet the national security needs of the country, and allow Service Chiefs of Staff to allow for the voluntary mobilization of members. These requirements would apply to those serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The bill also expresses a sense of the Congress that the goal for the time between deployments for regular components should be one year deployed to two years at home station, and the goal for the reserve components should be one year deployed to five years at home station.


http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=653

 

[Gunny]

Isn't that nice? Do they get free Similac and Pampers too?

 

[CockySOB]

The bill would allow the President to waive these requirements to meet the national security needs of the country, and allow Service Chiefs of Staff to allow for the voluntary mobilization of members.

Seems like it a lot of talk without any teeth....

 

[MontanaJack]

Isn't that nice? Do they get free Similac and Pampers too?

This has to be the most anti-American, troop hating board I've ever been on.

 

[Truthmatters]

Dont you love how some people support our troops?

 

[Gunny]

This has to be the most anti-American, troop hating board I've ever been on.

Really? As a 20-year-"troop," I'd say I'm entitled to an opinion. I'm neither anti-American, nor troop-hating because I believe you do what you have to do to accomplish the mission.

Yeah it sucks. You sign on the dotted line and you suck it up and go forward. There is NO ONE currently on active duty on their first enlistment that did not enlist AFTER we were at war. There's no excuse for not honoring a commitment.

 

[Gunny]

Dont you love how some people support our troops?

I really love how people who have no idea what it's like to be in the military, nor to run it, like to run their sucks about those who do.

When the US has been totally committed to war, and it's military in for the duration, we have achieved resounding victory.

When the US has half-assed at war, and the effort undermined from within by the left, we have not.

Not rocket science to figure THAT out.

And coming from the mouth of a "troop," I despised people like you.

 

[Truthmatters]

I understand your point of view However I know some "troops" personally who agree with me and not you.

I guess its a matter of opinion.

But the fact that we are severly overtaxing our troops and the figures on post tramatic stress and how it is effected by these current increased tours I feel facts are a much better indication of why this is a bad idea other then one vets oppinion no matter how much I appreciate his service to Our country.

 

[Gunny]

I understand your point of view However I know some "troops" personally who agree with me and not you.

I guess its a matter of opinion.

But the fact that we are severly overtaxing our troops and the figures on post tramatic stress and how it is effected by these current increased tours I feel facts are a much better indication of why this is a bad idea other then one vets oppinion no matter how much I appreciate his service to Our country.

I guarantee you, whoever those troops you claim agree with you are, don't constitute enough to even get a percentage point.

Y'know, before some pantywaist like you invented PTSD, there was no such thing. Odd that.

 

[hjmick]

Y'know, before some pantywaist like you invented PTSD, there was no such thing. Odd that.

Actually, I think there was, they just called it something different. I think it was "Shell shock."

 

[Truthmatters]

I guarantee you, whoever those troops you claim agree with you are, don't constitute enough to even get a percentage point.

Y'know, before some pantywaist like you invented PTSD, there was no such thing. Odd that.

What was shell shock?

BTW its a recognised medical condition.

 

[hjmick]

"Railway spine" was the nineteenth-century term for the post-traumatic symptoms of passengers involved in railroad accidents.

Veterans of the Civil War who suffered emotional problems were diagnosed with "soldier's heart."

In World War II, it was called "battle fatigue" or "combat fatigue."

 

[Truthmatters]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PTSD#Biology_of_PTSD

It has a biochemical fingerprint BTW

 

[Truthmatters]

Biology of PTSD

[edit] Neurochemistry
PTSD displays biochemical changes in the brain and body, which are different from other psychiatric disorders such as major depression.

In PTSD patients, the dexamethasone cortisol suppression is strong, while it is weak in patients with major depression. In most PTSD patients the urine secretion of cortisol is low, at the same time as the catecholamine secretion is high, and the norepinephrine/cortisol ratio is increased. Brain catecholamine levels are low, and corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) concentrations are high. There is also an increased sensitivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, with a strong negative feedback of cortisol, due to a generally increased sensitivity of cortisol receptors (Yehuda, 2001).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PTSD#Biology_of_PTSD

 

[DeadCanDance]

This has to be the most anti-American, troop hating board I've ever been on.

I guess so. This legislation obviously is in the interest of soldiers.

But, Bush fans are laughing it off.

 

[dilloduck]

I guess so. This legislation obviously is in the interest of soldiers.

But, Bush fans are laughing it off.

What do you propose as a reasonable schedule for our troops ?

 

[DeadCanDance]

I really love how people who have no idea what it's like to be in the military, nor to run it, like to run their sucks about those who do.

When the US has been totally committed to war, and it's military in for the duration, we have achieved resounding victory.

When the US has half-assed at war, and the effort undermined from within by the left, we have not.

Not rocket science to figure THAT out.

And coming from the mouth of a "troop," I despised people like you.

I really love how people who have no idea what it's like to be in the military, nor to run it, like to run their sucks about those who do.


I going to put more weight on what MOAA say, than on what some anonymous message board poster here claims.

The Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) - the nations largest and most influention association of military officers - endorsed Senator Webb's troop protection amendment. Which is the senate equivalent of this House bill.

Military Officer’s Association of America (MOAA)
July 10,2007

Dear Senator Webb,

On behalf of the 368,000 member of the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA), I an writing to express MOAA’s support for your amendment that would support our military mean and women by establishing standards for dwell time between consecutive operational deployments.

MOAA is very concerned that steps must be taken to protect our most precious military asset - the all-volunteer force -

Copy of MOAA letter at

http://webb.senate.gov/pdf/MOAAletterofsupport.pdf

I’m taking MOAA’s word, over yours, dude.

 

[DeadCanDance]

BTW: the author of the amendment, Senator Jim Webb, is a former Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Reagan Adminstration and is a decorated Vietnam Vet.

The military officer's association of america - the largest association of military officers in the nation - endorses the Webb amendment.

I'll put more weight in their opinion on how the military should be run, than any anonymous message board poster.

 

[dilloduck]

I really love how people who have no idea what it's like to be in the military, nor to run it, like to run their sucks about those who do.


I going to put more weight on what MOAA say, than on what some anonymous message board poster here claims.

The Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) - the nations largest and most influention association of military officers - endorsed Senator Webb's troop protection amendment. Which is the senate equivalent of this House bill.




I’m taking MOAA’s word, over yours, dude.

Do you intend to back the MOAA unequivocally on Iraq and the WOT or are you just picking cherries ?

 

[Dirt McGirt]

I guess so. This legislation obviously is in the interest of soldiers.

But, Bush fans are laughing it off.

It's not necessarily Bush fans. I don't have a high opinion of Bush but I'm wondering if this bill passes how are our troops going to be able to sustain the current troop levels? Everyone on the left has made the argument that our troops are stretched thin and recruiting is down, so if this bill passes, who's going to relieve the current rotation if the ones replacing them have to stay at home to fulfill manditory downtime? We don't have a finite number of troops we can send over there. The concept is similar to the strategy of reducing taxes to bleed the government- only here it's make the troops stay at home in order to reduce the troop levels and operations. It's unrealisitic given the current situation and mission over there.