scribblings from a deist transhumanist libertarian minarchist citizen soldier

Army Captain sues to separate

Posted by Trevor in under other on May 19th, 2006 | View Comments |

Army Reserve Captain Brad Schwan is suing his service, according to this week’s Army Times (subscription required to read article).

You know what? I hope he loses. It’s not because he shouldn’t be able to resign his commission. I don’t mind that tradition. It’s the double standard idea that I abhor. Letting officers do things that enlisted troops cannot is morally wrong. I realize power hath its privileges, but I don’t like them in the context of government service.

Right now, sitting here in Baghdad, I am serving with a sergeant whose contract ran out three weeks ago. He doesn’t get to go home. He’s on stop loss (which some people call the backdoor draft). Stop loss is a policy whereby the military arbitrarily decides that because we’re in the middle of a war, you, as an individual soldier, don’t get to end your service contract when you and the Army agreed it would end. I personally think it’s morally wrong that the government feels it is OK for them to dishonor their end of a signed agreement when the individual who signed the agreement would go to jail if he or she failed to live up to their end of the bargain.

However, if I must live with bad policies (and there are thousands of them), I would prefer they be applied as equally as possible to all segments of the military, including commissioned officers. I am glad that Capatain Schwan is getting some publicity. His lawsuit may bring put some needed public attention on a grave wrong the military is doing to those who sacrifice their individuality for a contractual period of years in order to try and serve their fellow citizens.

Only the government could even contemplate servitude by force as a method of dealing with a recruiting and retention problem caused by the government. A lot of soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines are simply unwilling to deploy to a combat zone every other year. I know I am not. It would wreak havoc on my marriage.

As wrong as I think “stop loss” is, I believe that officers should be held to the same exact standards as the enlisted and NCO personnel who serve under them. If we must suck it up then they must as well. Captain Schwanz I would like to welcome you to the Army of One (Standard for Everyone).

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Chris

CPT Laura, Can provide more details on your situation? Did you or your husband file an exemption packet and what happened in that process? I put an exemption packet in and was denied by HRC-St Louis, no reason given just a flat out denial. I appealed to HRC-Alexandria and am waiting to hear back. I have contacted my Senators and Congressman but they have been unable to obtain a reason for my exemption packet denial. I filed my exemption based on my wifeâ€™s medical condition and her inability to take care of our two small children. As a dual military household you should be able to file an exemption based on the fact that you do not have a family care plan. Do not give up, write you senator, write your congressman, do not give in.

I served proudly and was stop lossed during my active duty service, which I understood since I was with a unit and was serving a mission. The orders that I currently have will take me a year past my MSO. I think highly of the men and women that serve in the Armed forces but have become very skeptical of the leadership of the Armed forces.

CPT Laura

ENTLISTED PERSONNEL ARE RELEASED FROM SERVICE WHEN THEIR CONTRACT EXPIRES. USUALLY 8 YEARS. OFFICERS NO LONGER HAVE THAT OPTION. YOU ARE STUCK IN THE ARMY FOREVER AND EVER. MY HUSBAND AND I ARE BOTH ARMY RESERVE OFFICERS WITH NO COMMITMENT AND A 6-MONTH OLD DAUGTER. THEY WON'T LET EITHER OF US OUT. MY HUSBAND IS ENROUTE TO IRAQ, AND I MAY BE NEXT. I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WILL DO WITH MY BABY. I GUESS I WILL BRING HER WITH ME.... I HAVE NO ONE TO LEAVE HER WITH. I HATE THE ARMY!

Ken

Trevor...Rock On!!!

To the rest who posted...greetings!!!

Brad...well it takes fortitude to do what you are doing. Best of luck to ya.

All this being said...There is no need to have an enlisted/officer divide. We no longer exist in a pre-cold war capacity so why is the military structure so antiquated?

Enlisted members are simply ego food for officers. I am a well educated, highly successful member in the military. I have two businesses and am finacially secure. I work as a managment analyst performing consultant work for the Air Force. In my office I currently work with civilians, officers and enlisted members. Enlisted members deal with more stress at work as well as home. There self-esteem is so shattered during and late in their career, that an opportiunity to FINALLY lead (although junior ranking enlisted) blinds the reality they are about to embark upon. After 20+ years of service they are ill-prepared for a fair transition.

Officers on the other hand begin with a conscious focus on the future. Mentors help them establish their milestones as they reap significant pay increases for the toils of the member's they patronize. Upon completion of a career of ego buiding, and networking (not privy to enlisted) an officer can land/create a civilian equivilant job opporitunity. Fair???

I love America and I love Capitalism. However I could blog forever about the inconsistancies in our beloved armed forces.

Brad Schwan

I am the CPT in question. I want to make clear one point. Contrary to Trevor's suggestion in the post, officers are being held to an equal standard as enlisted men. He mentions that enlisted men mobilized overseas are being stop-lossed. So are the officers. I was stop-lossed in 2002 and was forced to serve an extra year which I did without complaint.

This is very different from my current situation. I am not stop-lossed. And this is where enlisted men have a better situation than officers. If you are NOT stop-lossed, as an enlisted man, when your MSO comes up, you are automatically outprocessed unless you reenlist. There is no process by which a buruaucrat without a legally authorized stop-loss can hold you longer. As an officer, you must resign and hope it is approved, even if your MSO has expired. And in my case, and many other officers, LTG Helmly, acting of his own accord, denied our resignations in violation of the law. So I strongly dispute the notion that officers are getting a better deal. That is clearly wrong and shows a lack of understanding of the difference between stop-loss and nonobligated resignations, MSOs, etc.

I agree that officers should be held at least to the same standard if not a higer one than the soldiers they lead. But before you accuse one of not doing so, make yourself aware of all of the facts. Stop-loss is legal and applies to officers and enlisted men equally. It is imposed legally by statute and authorized by a politcal branch of the government. In my case, I am NOT stop-lossed and an unelected general with a conflict of interest is illegally disapproving my resignation without political approval and in violation of the statutes.

I don't pretend to have it the worst of anyone out there. But I don't think the fact that some people have been legally stop-lossed grants the authority to a general to violate the laws of Congress. If you believe that, so be it.

Before casting stones, please learn all of the facts. Please visit my website at http://militaryinjustice.homestead.com or feel free to e-mail me. I welcome your questions or comments. Thanks for your service Trevor. I hope the government honors its commitment to you when you choose to leave the service.

Regards,
Brad Schwan

T

So it appears that U.S. civilian life mirrors U.S. military life or vice versa, where the privledge few receive more than the rest. I'm not surprised. I had never heard of a "stop loss" before. Though it sucks, how do you counter a decrease in enlistment while at war without a policy like stop loss?

Walter E. Wallis

When I found out that Jackie Robinson resigned from the Army in 1944, in the middle of WWII, I lost all respect for him. Life in the Army was and is tough on everyone.

Trevor

You and I really have to have a beer, or coffee or something one day, Kitanis.

kitanis

I went and got that article.. and took a read. Usually it wouold be something I ignore being that I am in the USAF.. but you raised my interest.

If I was serving wtth this Captain.. I as a enlisted person would obey his orders.. but I would be "pointing out" and observing the rules to the the letter..

I agree with you Trevor.. he should not be able to resign his commission. As a Commissioned Officer he also should know that he really does not have the right to sue the governmnet for any contractual service.. which really is what a Commission bascially is.

The problem is in my mind is that a small minority of the military populance wants to pick and choose the "purpose" of the mission.

I have a fellow SNCO in my flight who is dead set against anything with the present administration. He does his job and all but all he does is go around complaining about the war and how it never should have happened. He appaulds any case of people protesting the war on the news. Its sickening to me to watch..

Me.. I just do my job until its gone.. because of the war.. my career field is being eliminated in this comming fiscal year.. acellerated due to the war.. But I will do what I have to do...

datarat

Not being a soldier myself, I can still recognize bad management.

Officers, like managers, should be held to a HIGHER standard than the people they command or manage.

While it's instinctive to "hate the boss" for most people, those who are in charge have to do more than issue orders and enjoy the privelege. They need to serve as an example for those below them in the heirarchy and take responsibility for the actions of those in their employ or command.

This attitude makes other managers nervous, at least outside the military. I've fallen out of favor with fellow managers and superiors because I insisted on holding myself to a higher standard, and they always seemed worries that I held them to it as well.