Reservists Testify to More Juggling, Less Help

When Master Sgt. Gary L. Beaver was recruited for the war on terrorism, he left his job as a police officer in a Virginia suburb and eagerly answered the call to capture Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan.

But what he and his fellow soldiers in the Virginia Army National Guard unit encountered, he said, was a yearlong obstacle course of military inequities and slights that left even the most patriotic among them wondering whether they would serve again.

They lacked vital equipment: vehicles, radios, weapons systems. Some received full pay from the civilian jobs they left behind; others got nothing. And while their regular Army counterparts earned $150 a month in “jump pay” for paratroopers, the guardsmen got just $20.

“The risks are the same, the qualifications are the same, we fall from the same airplanes in the same parachutes,” Beaver testified Thursday before a House Armed Services subcommittee.

As the U.S. military relies more heavily than ever on its reserves and National Guard, concerns are growing that the problems faced by the nation’s citizen soldiers could undermine their effectiveness.

About 200,000 reserve troops are deployed in the war against Iraq, with thousands more dispatched for homeland security and peacekeeping posts around the world. But some warn that the struggle to balance family, a civilian job and the stress of multiple and more dangerous missions is growing harder.

On Thursday, seven reserve noncommissioned officers activated since the Sept. 11 attacks told the subcommittee of their experiences. Some described unequivocal support from the Defense Department and acceptance by the regular troops with whom they served. But others talked of red tape and neglect that have driven some reservists into debt and broken apart families that could not access support services readily available to regular military personnel.

Frequent call-ups on short notice have made civilian employers leery of hiring members of the National Guard and reserves, the officers said, turning what should be a proud military record into a liability best omitted from the resume.

In figures released this week, the Defense Department reported that reserve recruitment was at 97% of the goal for the first quarter of this year. But with the Iraq war just two weeks old and the prospect of a long period of reconstruction ahead, the demands placed on reserve units will inevitably grow, and some lawmakers expressed concern that enlistments will suffer.

For years, reserve duty amounted to a commitment to train one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer. Today, however, units that had not been called up in 30 years have been activated twice in three years. Currently, an estimated 19,500 reservists face a second year of involuntary duty -- twice the amount of time usually required, according to Rep. John M. McHugh (R-N.Y.), chairman of the Total Force subcommittee, which held the hearing.

Although deployment away from home is difficult for any soldier, it can fall harder on reservists who have their feet in the civilian and military worlds. Families of regular military personnel usually live on or near a military base; reserve soldiers are far-flung. Some pay to drive or fly to training sites. And when reservists deploy, their families are left to navigate the complex military benefits network with little assistance.

Legislation is pending in Congress to ease the burden. One bill would require the federal government to compensate its employees for discrepancies in pay during activation. Another measure would provide tax incentives to encourage private employers to do the same. And McHugh has endorsed increasing the regular military force by 33,000 slots to lessen the burden on reserves.

But even without immediate relief in sight, for many reservists the pull of patriotic duty proved to be stronger than the deterrent of hardship. Each of the seven reserve members who testified said they planned to reenlist, and some have signed up for more than the year they were required to serve.

Gunnery Sgt. Nancy Jean Koehler, with the Marine Corps Reserves, is in her 18th month of active duty. Her 4-year-old is puzzled by her mother’s absence, Koehler’s real estate career is a shambles and her husband is struggling to get by without her.

She is due to reenlist in July 2004. Despite the drawbacks, she said, “at this point, I plan to do so without hesitation.”