My sister's fiance is being reactivated.

[xiphias]

He's 42. But he was in the Special Forces, so he has useful skills, and is therefore being called up.

I was just talking to Sibling, and we were commenting that, in all honesty, his brain is far more useful right now than his ability to be shot at, so we're really, really hoping that he's stationed, ideally, stateside as command-and-control, codebreaking, or training, or at least nowhere near the front lines. We thought about how we could get this message to someone, and I pointed out that at least ONE of us has to have our phones tapped.

"Yeah!" she said, "and I'm on a cell phone anyway, so they're definitely listening: his name is XXX XXX XXX, and he's stationed out of XXX XXX XXX, and he's really going to be more useful in a training or control role, so that's what you should do -- it would be a waste to put him on the front lines. Plus, he's got many years of experience as a police officer, so he can help set up that sort of thing, too. See? This is the good part of illegal wiretapping!"

He's 42, engaged to my sister, and has a teenage daughter. He's got a number of years in various police departments, and a postgraduate degree in theology. If they ask him to carry a gun and be shot at, he'll go and do that, and won't even complain about it any more than average, but I hope, for his sake, for my sister's sake, and for the country's sake, that they have a better idea in mind.

Comments

[unquietsoul5.livejournal.com]

That's sort of assuming that they will place people intelligently.

We have a friend who has been in Iraq for over a year. Worked for a Think Tank here in the USA doing strategy stuff for the government in regards to diplomacy stuff, and in his 40s as well. Really a brains kind of guy... and an officer.

Unfortunately, his experience for the govt was in military intelligence. So, he's in the field, collecting data, dealing with the locals, and pretty much a guy with a translator, a computer and a sidearm and not much else, as are the people in his command, setting up attempts to network with the local police, sub-contractors, politicians etc.

He left his teenagers in guardianship of a couple of friends while he's been gone, and one of them took his own life a few months ago. They wouldn't give him leave or send him back to deal with it... another friend had to step in and take over the day to day household ops with his kids.

The military is being about as intelligent and sympathetic as rocks these days.

[king-tirian.livejournal.com]

A most clever strategy. If you wanted to double your chances, you could also protest against the President or Rumsfeld saying "Don't you dare send my sister's fiance to some cushy desk job. Just because he's 42 and I'm a liberal doesn't mean that he's not capable of taking the fight right to the front lines!" They'd be sure to give him a stateside desk job just to spite you.

On a less silly note, I hope all goes well. Deployment is rough no matter how risky the assignment is.

[yehoshua.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, I have two data points you're not going to like. First, they're using military intelligence battalions on the front lines, and they're making up these battalions with a lot of former special forces types (I know this because a co-worker's son is a former Ranger who took two semesters of Arabic before dropping out of MIT, and he's currently taking the waters near Tikrit). Second, that same battalion has been in-theatre for a while now, so they're going to have to muster a replacement with comparable capabilities soon-ish. I don't know/can't say what those capabilities are, but if he has the relevant background and clearances (or can get the clearances), his ass is probably going to Iraq.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

Oh, dear.

I'm definetely going to be thinking of him, and his daughter, and your sister.

[rebmommy.livejournal.com]

stupid, stupid war

[mattblum.livejournal.com]

Damn. He and your family will be in my thoughts.

[jehanna.livejournal.com]

1. Your sister's fiance is 42? *boggle*

2. Canada. Toronto is lovely this time of year.

You think I'm kidding.

[trinker.livejournal.com]

http://thankyoult.live.radicaldesigns.org

Just a thought.

[psu-jedi.livejournal.com]

If they ask him to carry a gun and be shot at, he'll go and do that, and won't even complain about it any more than average, but I hope, for his sake, for my sister's sake, and for the country's sake, that they have a better idea in mind.

I hope so too. But this is the organization that booted an Arab-speaking soldier because he's gay (http://psu-jedi.livejournal.com/137314.html), so I wouldn't expect them to do the smart thing in this case. (But, like I said, I hope there's someone who's smart enough to realize what SHOULD be done!)