My Turn: Government isn't honoring its contracts with veterans
The "stop laws" have been around for two years now. These laws allow the government to disregard the signed contracts with citizens and force them to serve for an undetermined amount of time once they are in the military. How powerful is a signature? Captured American servicemen have died under torture because they have refused to relinquish their signatures. When I was in the service, my platoon sergeant told me that the only power I had over the government was my signature. I was cautioned to use it wisely.
I signed a contract with the government to serve four years of active duty. After those four years my obligations to the Corps were fulfilled and I knew I could pursue a post-secondary education. While the Marine Corps treated me well and I have no regrets of serving, I was looking forward to getting out and going to college. The reason I got out was not just because of college but also because of job security.
After the shift from the Bush to Clinton administration, one of the military cutbacks that affected the Marine Corps was to increase scrutiny of Marines who have been in the enlisted ranks just shy of 20 years. If a Marine under scrutiny failed his FitRep assessments twice he was discharged from the corps without pension. This happened to a master sergeant in my battery who had torn his ACL and wore a brace. After my unit returned from Desert Storm, he was involuntarily separated 13 months before retirement. You can understand why I was apprehensive about pursuing a career in the military. I knew that I would not be re-enlisting as my End of Active Service date (EAS) approached. Needless to say, the government saved money back in 1992 by not having to pay retirement benefits to people who didn't make it to their full 20 years.
Our current military administration under George W. Bush has upped the ante by enabling Stop Laws. No longer does our country value the signature of its citizens. Most troops in a combat field cannot leave the military when reaching their EAS dates. The administration believes that the "stop laws" will increase battle effectiveness of units over those in Vietnam. Units engaged in Vietnam had the problem of replacing combat-experienced soldiers whose contract was up with new, inexperienced soldiers. At least back then you knew when you were coming back home.
I have a friend in the Army who is, at this very moment, in Afghanistan watching the reconstruction of terrorist camps through telescopes and binoculars. He is currently serving past his EAS date and is severely demoralized because of it. Not just because he has only been allowed to watch the terrorist camps grow for the past 18 months, but because he had planned to get out of the military earlier last year. He could not support himself or his family with the income he had and knew that his job skills were more valued in the private sector. Two months ago, after being away from his wife for nearly three years, he and his wife separated.
I foresee other problems with the stop laws both for the troops and the government. It is a lose-lose situation. The soldiers are missing out on expected family time at home, while the government is setting itself up for major lawsuits in the future. Lawyers will be searching out veterans who were negatively affected by the stop laws.
One of the simplest and most tragic events that can happen during war is for somebody to lose a family member in combat. This is further aggravated by the fact that in this war against terrorism, some sons and daughters will die in combat operations after their EAS dates. If the stop laws disturb you, contact your congressional representative, Don Young, or Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Ted Stevens to let them know. I hope that they can look beyond the political party lines to properly represent us when the stop laws come up for review this November.
• Michael Heiman of Juneau was a sergeant in the Marine Corps and now teaches at Floyd Dryden Middle School.