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http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/militar...ingreserve.html

For returning soldiers, difficult trek from 'Fort Living Room' to war


By Susanne M. Schafer
ASSOCIATED PRESS
9:58 a.m. November 27, 2004

FORT JACKSON, S.C. – Chief Warrant Officer Margaret Murray, who describes herself as "over 50," says her small frame and some old back pain made it difficult to fire her M-16 in a marksmanship refresher course.

"With my stature, it was a challenge," said the 4-foot-10, 95-pound, gray-haired personnel specialist from Schenectady, N.Y. "But I can hit the target now."

Murray is one of about 4,400 Army soldiers from the Individual Ready Reserve who completed their active-duty service but have been notified they must get back in uniform. Most likely, they are headed for Iraq or Afghanistan.

Ranging in age from 24 to 62, the returning soldiers bring valuable experience to the Army. But their advanced ages, weakened eyes and expanded waistlines mean doing things a bit differently.

"Old is the operative word. I joke my contingent just came from Fort Living Room," said Lt. Col. Douglas Snyder, commander of the training unit here. "They haven't run in two, four, six, maybe 10 years or more. And that goes for push-ups, too."

One lieutenant colonel with bifocals had to switch from an M-16 to a 9 mm pistol to qualify. The petite Murray learned to adjust her stance to fire her weapon.

"We don't give up on them. We haven't failed to qualify a single person," said Staff Sgt. Kenneth Calloway, a 29-year-old Army Reserve instructor. "We just give each individual a lot of time – and lots of ammunition."

Still, of the 1,100 ready reservists who have reported so far to Fort Jackson, the nation's largest training base, 325 were released from active duty, many for medical grounds such as bad knees, back pain or irregular heartbeats.

And not all the reservists have returned peacefully. Last month, the Army reported that more than 800 of the former soldiers had failed to comply with Army orders to report for duty.

News reports of ambushed convoys and roadside bombs are woven into the daily instruction here, sometimes accompanied by graphic photos of injured soldiers.

In one classroom, soldiers paid rapt attention as their teacher explained the routine insurgent practice of attacking a convoy with an improvised explosive device, and then raining down on the survivors with rocket propelled grenades.

"What follows an IED?" yells the instructor.

"An RPG!" the class responds in unison.

Members of the Individual Ready Reserve were honorably discharged after finishing their active-duty tours – usually four to six years – but remained in the IRR for the rest of the eight-year commitment they made when they joined the Army.

In all, the Army has said it will involuntarily recall more than 5,600 of those soldiers. The last time these troops were called up was in 1990, when nearly 20,000 were mobilized.

While not expected to join front-line combat units, the returnees will fill jobs urgently needed such as engineers, vehicle maintenance workers and other support staff.

"My hat is off to these people," Calloway said. "They may not have fired a weapon in 12 years, but they know they have to get back there for their own good as well as that of their fellow soldiers."

Pfc. Marc Washington, 23, from Waldorf, Md., left active duty more than a year ago and was in business school when he got the call.

Washington said his parents hate that he's returning to the military "but I'm looking at the bigger picture."

"It really wasn't a big deal for me," he said. "People in the military learn to adjust."