Good thing our military isn't stretched too thin:


52-year-old Army veteran called back to active duty

MOSINEE, Wis. (AP) -- Gary Olson is a 52-year-old grandfather, a retired U.S. Army veteran - and soon to be a soldier again, thanks to the need for troops in Iraq.

Olson was ordered to report for duty Dec. 4 in Fort Jackson, S.C.

"They're just looking for bodies to fill in. I have been out cold turkey for 13 years," Olson said. "My philosophy is this: I'm going to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. If I have to go, I have to go."

more-

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WI_GRANDFATHER_SOLDIER_WIOL-?SITE=WIFON&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

G-d, I fucking hate these people!!! I HATE THEM

I

HATE

these fucking people!

limbs? It's getting might drafty in here.

This is wrong on so many levels I can't begin to grasp it!

I hate the Republicans that voted for this foo;.

There won't be a bunch of them protesting on college campuses.

Funny, his quote echoes one of _my_ grandfather's favorite sayings.

"Plan for the worst, hope for the best, and take whatever you get."

:-(

being called back to finished his TANG commitment. Then again, if the AWOL sh*t head weren't Commander in Chief, this 52 year old Army veteran wouldn't have to worry about being called back either, because President Gore wouldn't have attacked Iraq to begin with. And AWOL** would still be AWOL.

Right after veteran's day too. If I were a 52 year old grandfather, I'd rather fight in a civil war against my betraying country than a fake war for the mindless.

Just askin'. :shrug:

they have enough neo-com storm troops in the top grades.

He got an early retirement with all the benefits of retirement. He could have stayed on Active Duty for three more years and the Army could have never touched him again.

He made his choice and now he's paying the piper.

If he's lucky, he'll flunk the physical, although I'd bet that under the UCMJ if he flunked for pot in his system he'd end up doing time.

I believe they are subject to recall until age 65.

60 is the age for the most part, however, special skills can be recalled until 70 and some skills can be recalled to any age.

If you retire from the military you have to give a total of 30 years. If you retire with 20 years active duty you can be called back up for ten years. Retire at 26 years active duty can be called up for four more years and so on. I retired 1 Jan 98 after twenty years. Come 1 jan 06 I still have two more years I can be called up.

and preserve him. Bush won't.

shipped out from my town a few months back.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4851

(AP) BOULDER, Colo. Old soldiers no longer fade away. One got called back to active duty at the age of 71.

Dr. Everett Spees, a cardiothoracic surgeon at several local hospitals who helped to develop the field of organ transplants, was a bit startled to find the Army calling, asking if he'd volunteer.

A retired colonel, he'd offered his services on the day after Sept. 11, 2001, but no one called back for more than two years -- after the military was thoroughly embroiled in Iraq and needing more soldiers.

"I said, 'You know, I'm 71 years old?"'

The Reserve officer replied, "Are you physically fit? Are you still practicing?"

Spees said yes. And soon he was back in uniform -- 27 years after he first retired. He served a year in a military hospital in Texas, from July 2004 to July 2005, just days before turning 72.

"Since I retired again, they've called me twice to see if I could come back again," Spees said. "I said 'yes."' But the Army hasn't yet offered a specific new assignment.

With a shortfall of 24,000 troops in the Army Reserve and Army National Guard, the military is trying new ways to fill the gap.

Spees said he was told the Army Reserve called all 5,000 retirees from the Army medical corps, and he was the 101st to agree to return.

He is the oldest soldier he's met, though there are reports of a 72-year-old surgeon serving back East. Army officials didn't respond Thursday when asked the age of the oldest person recalled to duty so far.

Edited for spelling