Posted on May 6, 2014
Should veteran status be reserved for those who have deployed?
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This one has come up a lot in conversations with my peers and Soldiers: Should you be allowed to claim veterans status if you have never deployed?
Personally, I'm an ROTC graduate who chose to go straight into the ARNG in 2011, knowing full well that my chances to deploy would be next to none with the changing op tempo. Realistically, had I been actively searching out a deployment the whole time, I still may not have gotten one. I'm sure there are Soldiers out there who served honorably in a reserve component without deploying, despite their best efforts. So, for example, should a Soldier who completed basic training, had a clean service record, excelled in their peer group, but ultimately served 10 years as a reservist with no deployment and less than 180 days on non-ADT active service be prevented from calling themselves a veteran?
I have my own thoughts, but I'm more interesting in hearing your opinions. For clarification, I'm speaking more towards the legal definition of veterans status - even if the laws were changed here, there would still be an immense difference between a legal veteran and a legal veteran with several deployments, combat experience, decades on active duty, or a combination of all three.
Personally, I'm an ROTC graduate who chose to go straight into the ARNG in 2011, knowing full well that my chances to deploy would be next to none with the changing op tempo. Realistically, had I been actively searching out a deployment the whole time, I still may not have gotten one. I'm sure there are Soldiers out there who served honorably in a reserve component without deploying, despite their best efforts. So, for example, should a Soldier who completed basic training, had a clean service record, excelled in their peer group, but ultimately served 10 years as a reservist with no deployment and less than 180 days on non-ADT active service be prevented from calling themselves a veteran?
I have my own thoughts, but I'm more interesting in hearing your opinions. For clarification, I'm speaking more towards the legal definition of veterans status - even if the laws were changed here, there would still be an immense difference between a legal veteran and a legal veteran with several deployments, combat experience, decades on active duty, or a combination of all three.
Reserves
Army National Guard
Deployment
Posted 11 y ago
Responses: 678
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What kind of stupid ass question is this. There are numerous veterans that served during the 80's and 90's that never deployed to a combat zone. There were only a handful of conflicts that the US Military go involved in during that time. I would be willing to bet that if you asked most Combat Vets the would have preferred to have never been deployed to combat vs suffering with the host of issues a lot of them suffer with since coming back!
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The rule is 6 yes in reserves or national guard with no combat deployment still qualifies as a veteran. I always wonder why people ask the internet instead of using it to.look up information
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What does "deployed" even mean? Seriously! We kick that term around as if it means something, but what does it really mean?
So far as I can tell, for most of the people using the term it just means whatever kind of assignment they had that they think someone else didn't.
The term has been popular in the Army ever since the ridiculous invention of the so-called Brigade Combat Team and the notion of rotating BCTs around as if they were all interchangeable map tokens where every map symbol with an X in the unit size position is exactly the same regardless of anything else.
I, for one, do not believe that every BCT is exactly equal -- and certainly don't think every time a BCT rotates away from its mythical "home station" is equally a "deployment"
And, of course, there are people who aren't in a BCT -- who may or may not be "deployed" as part of a BCT and who may or may not find themselves living and working with a BCT regardless of being assigned, attached, or whatever'ed.
How do we apply the term "deployed" in the other services? Is a sailor "deployed" every time their ship leaves port?
We can't even agree on what "combat" means - how are we going to agree on what "deployed" means?
So far as I can tell, for most of the people using the term it just means whatever kind of assignment they had that they think someone else didn't.
The term has been popular in the Army ever since the ridiculous invention of the so-called Brigade Combat Team and the notion of rotating BCTs around as if they were all interchangeable map tokens where every map symbol with an X in the unit size position is exactly the same regardless of anything else.
I, for one, do not believe that every BCT is exactly equal -- and certainly don't think every time a BCT rotates away from its mythical "home station" is equally a "deployment"
And, of course, there are people who aren't in a BCT -- who may or may not be "deployed" as part of a BCT and who may or may not find themselves living and working with a BCT regardless of being assigned, attached, or whatever'ed.
How do we apply the term "deployed" in the other services? Is a sailor "deployed" every time their ship leaves port?
We can't even agree on what "combat" means - how are we going to agree on what "deployed" means?
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I served two tours in Vietnam and I have no problem with non-deployed soldiers, sailors, marines calling themselves "veterans." They served during a time of war and put themselves at risk of being deployed even though they never were. So, yeah, they are veterans.
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Maybe a differentiation as in Veteran-Combat Veteran but too much dividing might cause separation.
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I've said this million time If you signed on the line raised your right hand and took that oath, You Are A VET. If you were deployed or statse side makes no difference. Deployed means nothing other that place. I used to love grunts saying they were the only real soilders! In the boonies humping with them with a ground surveillance radar on my back so I could work all night checking for unwanted contact. I was Artillery, so no CIB for me! Pilots, air crew, engineers, atry, medics nurses! We are VETs everyone of us!!! If you don't like, up yours!
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Remember that there are veterans that served between the Korean war and the Vietnam War. Would you refuse to recognize these cold war veterans that served between 1951 and 1962? The closest I came to a deployment was 90 day TDY to Guam while our B-47 was on Alert status.
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I understand the way it is. The purpose of the years tax payor investment in our training is to answer that call when it happens. When it does, most have unprepared issues in their lives like family and job situations. I have seen some unavailable to move on to the deployment. Risk jail or tell commander they smoke pot.
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