US ex-soldiers dodge call-up

The army's problem with mobilising soldiers from the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR), a seldom-tapped personnel pool, is another sign of the difficulty the Pentagon is encountering in maintaining troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan, the army said on Tuesday.

So far, the army has mobilised 3664 people from the IRR to active duty, but 1085 have not reported on time to the army post to which they were assigned, said Julia Collins, a spokeswoman for the Army Human Resources Command.

The IRR is made up of 111,000 people who have completed their voluntary army service commitments and have returned to civilian life, but remain eligible to be mobilised in a national emergency.

Many have been out of the active military duty for years.

Eight of those recently ordered back to active duty have been listed as absent without leave, or AWOL, and could face military criminal charges as deserters, Collins said.

All eight were notified they were being classified as AWOL and still refused to report for duty, Collins added.

Exemption sought

In addition, their names will be entered into a national criminal investigation database, and they could be arrested if, for example, they are stopped by a police officer for a routine traffic violation, Collins said.

Six others had been listed as AWOL, but agreed to report after being contacted by the army, Collins said.

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Thirty percent of former U.S. soldiers who have been called back to duty involuntarily to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan have failed to report on time, and eight have been declared AWOL, the Army said on Tuesday.
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Eight of those recently ordered back to active duty have been listed as absent without leave, or AWOL, and could face military criminal charges as deserters, Collins said. All eight have been notified they are being classified as AWOL and still refused to report for duty, Collins added.
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ooking to address shortfalls in certain military skills in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army announced in June it planned to mobilize about 5,600 soldiers from the IRR, and conceded that some might be shocked to learn they are being ordered back to active duty. The rest of the 5,600 are due to be summoned by December.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6357489