Great good news! The Army has decided that Sgt. Lee Hetzler can take his terminal leave, which means it is likely that he will not be called back for another tour. Of course, this is the Army we are talking about, so until all those papers are signed and he is firmly back in civilian life, we have to leave that 5% out there on the proverbial table.
The day after I posted about stop-loss, the government announced it was scaling back the numbers of troops retained in that practice. In true bureaucratic fashion, it is not going to do away with it altogether, and it is giving the Army a full two years to dial it down. But, the more men and women allowed to leave on their ETS (end of term of service) date the better.
I am going to continue to write and harass Pat Roberts about that stop-loss policy. There is a lot of controversy over it, and it seems to me that it has been abused by the government since the Gulf war. Rather than work to make sure troop levels are at an adequate level, it is easier to prevent soldiers from leaving. It is no longer an all volunteer Army at that point.
Of course, after I found this video of military life, it actually looks like fun to be in the military, so not sure why Lee wants to leave?!
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Post script: It was Iraq where the Army was wanting to send Sgt. Lee Hetzler, not Afghanistan. My journalistic integrity is at stake here.....
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