NEW YORK, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- An Iraq and Afghan veterans group Friday protested a U.S. Department of Defense decision to revise Reserves mobilization limits.
"The Pentagon has scrapped the rule that limits the amount Guardsmen and Reservists can be mobilized to 24 months. Now, all Guardsmen and Reservists can be mobilized for as many months as the Pentagon sees fit, though limited to 24 consecutive months at any one time," VoteVets.org said in a statement. The group represents U.S. military veterans of the Iraq and Afghan wars and says it "primarily focuses on nonpartisan education and advocacy on behalf of troops, veterans and their families."
"This personally affects me and thousands of others who had a deal with the United States government," said Jon Soltz, Chairman and Co-Founder of VoteVets.org, who served in Iraq in 2003 with the U.S. Army, and was again mobilized in 2005 to train soldiers deploying to Iraq.
"When we joined the National Guard and Reserves, there was never any expectation that we would serve more than two years time on active duty. Now, the Pentagon has reset the clock, erasing the service we've contributed, and essentially making us part of the active duty component of the military," Soltz said.
Soltz urged the Department of Defense to extend to the National Guard and Reserves the same benefits, including health care, that they gave to active service forces.
"They've run out of troops. It's as simple as that," he said. "Poor planning has left our military overextended and decimated, and now National Guardsmen and Reservists have to pay for the mistakes of this administration," he said."
