thedrifter
09-29-07, 07:21 AM
Once more, unto the breach
Inactive Marine recalled to duty as Bush OKs draw-down
BURTON
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Saturday, September 29, 2007
By Beata Mostafavi
bmostafavi@flintjournal.com • 810.766.6210
BURTON - In a ranch home where wind chimes tinkle in the breeze and U.S. Marine Corps and American flags flap high outside, Cpl. Bryan Antkowiak has been settling into a new life.
Antkowiak has spent more time with wife, Kim, and daughter, Emma, the blonde, bubbly 3-year-old whose birthdays he has missed. He is trying to treat degenerative disc disease, and he started a new job at General Motors.
But two years after leaving Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, the Marine - who the Veteran's Administration says is 30 percent disabled, according to his family - is being sent to the Middle East as an inactive reservist.
"It looks like they're cutting back on numbers, but they're not," said the 26-year-old father, who also has a 9-year-old son. "I finally have a job where I can be home to see my wife and kids.
"They're supposed to be pulling people out, not calling on their sick and injured. It doesn't make sense."
Bryan Antkowiak is among thousands of troops that could be recalled.
In 2006, President Bush authorized the Marines to recall 2,500 troops to active duty by spring of this year. At the time, the administration cited a shortage of volunteers returning to duty in Afghanistan and Iraq and placed no cap on the involuntary recall.
The Antkowiaks are among some military families who balked at Bush's recent announcement that the total number of troops would be reduced from about 168,000 in January, the highest level of the war, to nearly 130,000, about the number before the surge.
But in an e-mail to The Journal, Department of Defense spokesman Lt. Col. Les' A. Melnyk said "the demands of the Global War On Terrorism have necessitated an unprecedented high operational tempo of U.S. military forces, our reserve components included."
"All reservists know when they join that membership includes a service obligation of a certain number of years, and that this obligation includes the possibility of being mobilized for duty," he wrote.
"The United States Marine Corps has a long and proud tradition of serving this country. Whether members of the active component, the selected reserve or the individual ready reserve, the Marines themselves make no distinction - they are all Marines; and Americans know that Marines always answer their country's call."
Antkowiak's contract with the Marines called for four years of active service and four years inactive- during which he is unpaid and not working for the military but is basically on call for duty.
The window during which he could be recalled was two years from expiring when his orders and plane ticket came in the spring, shortly after he declined to volunteer.
"I feel like they're lying to the public," said Kim Antkowiak, 26, of the president's recent speech. "I even called the senators and said 'Why aren't you saying in public that you're still recalling guys who aren't even active?' They've done their time."
Bryan Antkowiak said he was declared partially disabled by the VA after developing a skin disease, asthma and leg and back problems after his service.
On a hot September day, young Emma Antkowiak watched cartoons, taking a break to ask her dad for more chocolate milk.
"What do you tell her? Daddy's got to go to work," Bryan Antkowiak said as Emma flashed a wide grin. "I'm a Marine. If there was a war to be fought for an important reason, I'd be the first to go. But I think it's just a political mess."
But some say the government must do whatever it takes to complete the mission abroad.
"My husband was drafted, and the reserves never had to go," said Fenton Township resident Pat Matney of her husband Odis, who served from 1958-1960 and 1961-1962. "I feel like we need them, now."
She said her grandson, Charles Green III, who has toured Iraq three times, is ready to go again despite expecting his first child.
"He thinks they're doing a great job for the people there," she said. "He feels guilty that we have so many privileges and they have none.
"He said 'I'm glad we're there, and they're not here.' We can't cut and run. That's when you're going to lose."
But Nancy Lessin, co-founder of Military Families Speak Out, a national organization of more than 3,600 military families who oppose the Iraq war, said, "It's time to bring all of the troops home."
"They're talking about taking 30,000 out of Iraq. What they're not talking about is they're planning to keep over 130,000 troops in Iraq indefinitely. It's not a comfort," she said.
"The only way to see light at the end of the tunnel is to end our presence in Iraq. This is an unjust and unjustified war, and it shouldn't be happening. Iraq is the problem, not the solution."
Kim Antkowiak said the couple understood that after his four active years were up, her husband could be recalled "if there was an absolute dire need."
"We just didn't expect it would happen. She's not going to understand," she said, watching Emma bounce around the room. "We're still in denial."
Information from The Associated Press is included in this report.
Ellie
Inactive Marine recalled to duty as Bush OKs draw-down
BURTON
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Saturday, September 29, 2007
By Beata Mostafavi
bmostafavi@flintjournal.com • 810.766.6210
BURTON - In a ranch home where wind chimes tinkle in the breeze and U.S. Marine Corps and American flags flap high outside, Cpl. Bryan Antkowiak has been settling into a new life.
Antkowiak has spent more time with wife, Kim, and daughter, Emma, the blonde, bubbly 3-year-old whose birthdays he has missed. He is trying to treat degenerative disc disease, and he started a new job at General Motors.
But two years after leaving Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, the Marine - who the Veteran's Administration says is 30 percent disabled, according to his family - is being sent to the Middle East as an inactive reservist.
"It looks like they're cutting back on numbers, but they're not," said the 26-year-old father, who also has a 9-year-old son. "I finally have a job where I can be home to see my wife and kids.
"They're supposed to be pulling people out, not calling on their sick and injured. It doesn't make sense."
Bryan Antkowiak is among thousands of troops that could be recalled.
In 2006, President Bush authorized the Marines to recall 2,500 troops to active duty by spring of this year. At the time, the administration cited a shortage of volunteers returning to duty in Afghanistan and Iraq and placed no cap on the involuntary recall.
The Antkowiaks are among some military families who balked at Bush's recent announcement that the total number of troops would be reduced from about 168,000 in January, the highest level of the war, to nearly 130,000, about the number before the surge.
But in an e-mail to The Journal, Department of Defense spokesman Lt. Col. Les' A. Melnyk said "the demands of the Global War On Terrorism have necessitated an unprecedented high operational tempo of U.S. military forces, our reserve components included."
"All reservists know when they join that membership includes a service obligation of a certain number of years, and that this obligation includes the possibility of being mobilized for duty," he wrote.
"The United States Marine Corps has a long and proud tradition of serving this country. Whether members of the active component, the selected reserve or the individual ready reserve, the Marines themselves make no distinction - they are all Marines; and Americans know that Marines always answer their country's call."
Antkowiak's contract with the Marines called for four years of active service and four years inactive- during which he is unpaid and not working for the military but is basically on call for duty.
The window during which he could be recalled was two years from expiring when his orders and plane ticket came in the spring, shortly after he declined to volunteer.
"I feel like they're lying to the public," said Kim Antkowiak, 26, of the president's recent speech. "I even called the senators and said 'Why aren't you saying in public that you're still recalling guys who aren't even active?' They've done their time."
Bryan Antkowiak said he was declared partially disabled by the VA after developing a skin disease, asthma and leg and back problems after his service.
On a hot September day, young Emma Antkowiak watched cartoons, taking a break to ask her dad for more chocolate milk.
"What do you tell her? Daddy's got to go to work," Bryan Antkowiak said as Emma flashed a wide grin. "I'm a Marine. If there was a war to be fought for an important reason, I'd be the first to go. But I think it's just a political mess."
But some say the government must do whatever it takes to complete the mission abroad.
"My husband was drafted, and the reserves never had to go," said Fenton Township resident Pat Matney of her husband Odis, who served from 1958-1960 and 1961-1962. "I feel like we need them, now."
She said her grandson, Charles Green III, who has toured Iraq three times, is ready to go again despite expecting his first child.
"He thinks they're doing a great job for the people there," she said. "He feels guilty that we have so many privileges and they have none.
"He said 'I'm glad we're there, and they're not here.' We can't cut and run. That's when you're going to lose."
But Nancy Lessin, co-founder of Military Families Speak Out, a national organization of more than 3,600 military families who oppose the Iraq war, said, "It's time to bring all of the troops home."
"They're talking about taking 30,000 out of Iraq. What they're not talking about is they're planning to keep over 130,000 troops in Iraq indefinitely. It's not a comfort," she said.
"The only way to see light at the end of the tunnel is to end our presence in Iraq. This is an unjust and unjustified war, and it shouldn't be happening. Iraq is the problem, not the solution."
Kim Antkowiak said the couple understood that after his four active years were up, her husband could be recalled "if there was an absolute dire need."
"We just didn't expect it would happen. She's not going to understand," she said, watching Emma bounce around the room. "We're still in denial."
Information from The Associated Press is included in this report.
Ellie