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Individuals who dedicate their lives to any public service organization/department, will not feel satisfied until they have seen the good, the bad and the ugly parts of their perform duties. A firefighter will feel unfulfilled until he/she has put out a fire, a cop will feel the same, till he/she makes her first arrest. Many soldiers feel incomplete without having experienced first-hand what it is like to serve overseas. NTC, only does so much as mock scenarios go and it is great training, but a deployment fully immersed in nothing but soldiers getting in the field and getting their feet wet in all-hazard training. With all the hullabaloo, about slick sleeves and veterans, why not have a continuous cycle of personnel on overseas duty stations, minimum 6 mos. at a time for reservists and National Guard soldiers. With the campaigns winding down and the Army becoming smaller, these soldiers will have less and less opportunities to serve. I am aware that state and federal budgeting is a conflict and our country's trillion dollar debt crisis is definitely an impediment but if it were possible? Should it be done?
Deployment
Army Reserve
Training Soldiers
Army National Guard
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 120
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Should every soldier be required to deploy? I understand every Soldier may not be able to deploy due to many reasons. Some units may have rear detachment responsibilities, deployment draw down or some Soldiers MOS may not be needed for an upcoming deployment. However, nearly 90% of the total force should be able, available and willing to deploy on a moment’s notice.
I understand some Soldiers have had surgery, get pregnant or may have been injured on a previous deployment or in garrison. I deployed on my last deployment before retiring on a permanent profile. If a Soldier that has been in 20 years or more with no issues preventing them from deploying and hasn't deployed (U.S. has been at war nearly 14 years) something major is wrong with this picture, volunteer for a deployment at this point, Uncle Sam and the military spent a lot of money training you and that money was not for a fully trained available Soldier to duck, dive and dodge and successfully get out of a deployment in which I witnessed some Soldiers do. When I was selected and became an AIT Platoon Sergeant, TRADOC wanted NCO's that recently returned from deployment to share their combat and vast years of experience as a Soldier to these new recruits.
The most important reasons why many Soldiers should be in an available status for any upcoming deployment is the Army Times article below.
Drawdown update: More involuntary separations needed
By Jim Tice, Staff writer 6:01 p.m. EDT October 27, 2015
With the Army preparing to shed 59,000 soldiers from its active and reserve components over the next three years, it will become increasingly important for those who stay to be available for deployments and other operational duties, according to Lt. Gen. James C. McConville, chief of personnel. This personal readiness mandate is directly linked to Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley’s campaign to make force readiness the service’s No. 1 priority. “For us in the personnel business, that means every single soldier needs to be able to get on the field and play his or her position," said McConville, who became the Army G-1 (Human Resources) in August 2014.
“If soldiers are not deployable, or are unable to do their job, we are going to have to take a hard look at their ability to stay in the Army.”
I understand some Soldiers have had surgery, get pregnant or may have been injured on a previous deployment or in garrison. I deployed on my last deployment before retiring on a permanent profile. If a Soldier that has been in 20 years or more with no issues preventing them from deploying and hasn't deployed (U.S. has been at war nearly 14 years) something major is wrong with this picture, volunteer for a deployment at this point, Uncle Sam and the military spent a lot of money training you and that money was not for a fully trained available Soldier to duck, dive and dodge and successfully get out of a deployment in which I witnessed some Soldiers do. When I was selected and became an AIT Platoon Sergeant, TRADOC wanted NCO's that recently returned from deployment to share their combat and vast years of experience as a Soldier to these new recruits.
The most important reasons why many Soldiers should be in an available status for any upcoming deployment is the Army Times article below.
Drawdown update: More involuntary separations needed
By Jim Tice, Staff writer 6:01 p.m. EDT October 27, 2015
With the Army preparing to shed 59,000 soldiers from its active and reserve components over the next three years, it will become increasingly important for those who stay to be available for deployments and other operational duties, according to Lt. Gen. James C. McConville, chief of personnel. This personal readiness mandate is directly linked to Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley’s campaign to make force readiness the service’s No. 1 priority. “For us in the personnel business, that means every single soldier needs to be able to get on the field and play his or her position," said McConville, who became the Army G-1 (Human Resources) in August 2014.
“If soldiers are not deployable, or are unable to do their job, we are going to have to take a hard look at their ability to stay in the Army.”
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IMHO, if you sign on the dotted line, you also acknowledge the possibility of deployment. Failure to deploy when ordered is a violation of the UCMJ. To that extent, then, deployment is already a requirement.
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SGT (Join to see) That is a actually "It depends" answer.
1. We all join understanding that we may to deploy; that is our mission. But, that all depends on what is/was going on.
- When I joined in 1980, we were going to fight the Soviet Union in Europe... and did things like REFORGER, Panama, JTF Bravo, MFO, NTC, JROTC, etc... For actual combat deployments... we all hoped we were in "the right place, at the right time," so we could deploy when something happened. But, combat deployments were far and few between after Vietnam and before 911 - Grenada, Panama, Desert Storm, Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo... And, most were short in duration. I could also cite many instances of Soldiers lobbying for slots to go to Grenada, Panama, etc. and campaigning to leave others behind. Many Soldiers never deployed to war before 911. I can remember being in Bosnia, then Kosovo and think 179 days was a very long time... And, I can remember being Baghdad during the surge (for 15 months) and thinking how cool a 179 day deployment would be...
- After 911, that all changed... Many Soldiers/Leaders went to war after 911 with no prior combat experience. My Brigade Commander on the Invasion of Iraq had no prior combat experience, but he had done all the right jobs... Just was never at "the right place, at the right time"... This was through no fault of their own; they were just not at "the right place at the right time." Soon, no one was lining up to deploy several years after 911... By 2006, many Soldiers had been deployed 50% the time since 911. The post 911 military is far different in terms of OPTEMPO than the Army before 911.
2. Your job as a Soldier is to be ready (Mentally, Physically, and to do your job), when you are called upon. That is all you can do.
3. Finally, I have seen more than one Soldier/Leader... years after 911... avoid deploying more than once... Many retired vs. deploying... That, I have an issue with... A serious issue. Not deploying because you were not ordered to go is far different than avoiding doing your Duty... In my view.
1. We all join understanding that we may to deploy; that is our mission. But, that all depends on what is/was going on.
- When I joined in 1980, we were going to fight the Soviet Union in Europe... and did things like REFORGER, Panama, JTF Bravo, MFO, NTC, JROTC, etc... For actual combat deployments... we all hoped we were in "the right place, at the right time," so we could deploy when something happened. But, combat deployments were far and few between after Vietnam and before 911 - Grenada, Panama, Desert Storm, Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo... And, most were short in duration. I could also cite many instances of Soldiers lobbying for slots to go to Grenada, Panama, etc. and campaigning to leave others behind. Many Soldiers never deployed to war before 911. I can remember being in Bosnia, then Kosovo and think 179 days was a very long time... And, I can remember being Baghdad during the surge (for 15 months) and thinking how cool a 179 day deployment would be...
- After 911, that all changed... Many Soldiers/Leaders went to war after 911 with no prior combat experience. My Brigade Commander on the Invasion of Iraq had no prior combat experience, but he had done all the right jobs... Just was never at "the right place, at the right time"... This was through no fault of their own; they were just not at "the right place at the right time." Soon, no one was lining up to deploy several years after 911... By 2006, many Soldiers had been deployed 50% the time since 911. The post 911 military is far different in terms of OPTEMPO than the Army before 911.
2. Your job as a Soldier is to be ready (Mentally, Physically, and to do your job), when you are called upon. That is all you can do.
3. Finally, I have seen more than one Soldier/Leader... years after 911... avoid deploying more than once... Many retired vs. deploying... That, I have an issue with... A serious issue. Not deploying because you were not ordered to go is far different than avoiding doing your Duty... In my view.
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Deployment is what you train for. However, The Military is a large organization with a large tail behind the point persons in the Infantry/Armor/Artillery. The result is that a large number personnel will be deployed less frequently than others. The longer the term of the conflict, the greater likelihood of all personnel being deployed. I was only in Viet Nam for 1 year but I entered the Army about midway through the conflict and was assigned to Germany before going to Viet Nam (that was a different kind of deployment). Then the war ended before my turn to go again. As an Army Brat of a WWII Veteran, I grew up hearing and then learning this mantra: You train to fight a war and pray you never have to."
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I think every service member should want to deploy. I'm not saying that people should like going into harms way - and as someone who has done plenty of boots-on-the-ground I don't want any of my brothers and sisters of any uniform to be harmed - but if we don't deploy, someone has to go in our place.
On deployment we get to practice the very things we trained for. It's a valuable part of our military experiences. It's harder to train and train for something and then never get to use it. The only disclaimer I have is CPR and CBRNE training. I hope all are proficient in it but hope to God we never see anyone have to use it.
On deployment we get to practice the very things we trained for. It's a valuable part of our military experiences. It's harder to train and train for something and then never get to use it. The only disclaimer I have is CPR and CBRNE training. I hope all are proficient in it but hope to God we never see anyone have to use it.
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If you can't deploy, you shouldn't be allowed to serve. After all, our primary mission is to fight
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This is why I recommend that people go active duty before joining the Reserves or Guard. At the end of the day it's just not necessary to deploy. I was on active duty for 3 years from 1998-2001 and never deployed so I got out. I joined the Reserves in 2004 so I could deploy, been in ever since.
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I have been in the military since prior to the hostage taking in Iran. I first thought I had was, i picked a hell of a time to enlist. During dessert storm, they asked for volunteers to go. I figured I was in, why do they ask. I said no, if they told me that I was going, I would not complain, after all I enlisted to do a job. I went to Afghanistan in 2004-05 and then again in 2018 to Kuwait, no complaints
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I believe the fact that you are available is enough. To use an example, if I was on guard duty and nothing happened, I would be happy. I don't need an incident to happen to make doing guard duty necessary
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