One of our faithful readers, WK, pointed out a story today that is fascinating. We all know – well, those of us who breathe oxygen, and walk erect, that is – that our armed forces are woefully undermanned for the task(s) assigned them by the Likud Party: conquest of the Middle East, and destruction of society and infrastructure of all Arab nations. The wholesale use of IEDs are causing troops to be killed and maimed in horrendous fashion, and those blessed to survive their deployment tours with whole bodies are now being fed back into the meat grinder for second and third tours. Incidents of PTSD are at frighteningly high levels, and one can only expect both casualties and PTSD to rise even further when the ground combat phase of the impending attack against Iran manifests itself.

Our volunteer forces - all branches – have performed magnificently in answer to Mr Bu$h’s call for Imperium. Even though I hate this evil war and occupation, I get a lump in my throat every time I think of the grunts and their dedication to the flag. Patriotism doesn’t have to be a bad thing. While we maintain that we are a peaceful nation, there is a martial spirit that is either inspiring or troubling depending on your outlook. But it’s enough to just say that Americans do answer their country’s call to bear arms at moments of crisis.

And we’re woefully short handed. The Navy and Air Force have released troops from over-stocked MOSs for ground combat training as convoy guards and point security at facilities. The Army has decided that they will add two more divisions – about 40,000 troops – to their ranks over the next five years, and the Marine Corps plans to expand by about 22,000 over the same period.

Marine Corps will ask thousands to come back

The Marine Corps plans to ask up to 100,000 former Marines released from the ranks since September 2001 whether they would like to come back.

Speaking at the Pentagon on Friday, Lt. Gen. Emerson Gardner, the Corps’ deputy commandant for programs and resources, said many of those Marines had either hinted that they’d like to have re-enlisted at the time they got out or were told outright that no slots were available in which they could re-enlist.

“In the past, we’ve had a number of people who have desired to re-enlist in a particular job specialty, and, unfortunately, there is not enough room in the Marine Corps to keep them on, so we have released them from active duty,” Gardner said.

“But anecdotally, we’re all familiar with people that have gotten out of the Marine Corps, and you talk to them a year or two later and they say, ‘You know, if I had to do it over again, I sure would like to have stayed,’ ” Gardner said.

“We’re going to offer them that opportunity. Our commandant will make a call to arms and see what number of those 100,000 would be willing to come back on active duty,” Gardner said.

I’m from an older generation. I placed second in the Greater South East Asia Wargames of 1965-1975, and after my release from the hospital I extended my active duty service beyond the usual three years for the expressed purpose of career development in a particular field that is rather arcane. As it turned out, it didn’t turn out, and I left a couple of years later. But I stayed in touch with a number of people I met, EM and Officers, who left active duty when the chance came. And none of them ever expressed any interest in getting back into the green bag afterwards. That Army was mainly composed of draftees and it’s not surprising they politely laughed at the Re-enlistment NCO before their separation.

Today’s Army is wholly voluntary and I wonder how many of the soldiers (and marines) who left after 9/11/2001 would like another bite of the apple.

This question really has to be considered within the context of Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran, because it looks like that will be our military horizon for the next 10 or 15 years. Citizens opting to get back in understand where they will be going and what they will be doing. I can’t conceive of anyone doing it for the adrenaline rush, so the motivations would seem to be patriotism, no economic hope in civilian life, a determination to make a career of service. I suppose a burning hatred for Muslims might be considered a factor, and I just don’t want to debate the rightness or wrongness of any one of these motivations.

Why did they leave? Why did the Corps allow them to leave? And if the Corps (or Army) heaved a quiet sigh of relief when they left, would they now be welcome again?

All I’m curious about is whether LTG Garner is right when he says he knows people are trying to bust down the doors.