Comments for A sign of the times.

A sign of the times.

2009-02-16T14:13:05Z

My state representative, Melanie Meiers, is called to active duty. This after she spent the time and money to win her seat as a Blue Dog Democrat in a fairly Red state. In this part of the state, at least our Democrats are of a stripe like the Democrats of old. Heh. Our Democrats here are more right-wing than the Republican Senators of Maine...

To the Citizens of the 40th House District:

As you may already know, I have served in the United States Army Reserves for the last 19 years and hold the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. I take this responsibility very seriously. Recently, I unexpectedly received orders to report to active duty. I have been ordered to report to Ft. Hood for pre-deployment training on February 22, 2009, and then on to Iraq. My unit is currently projected to return in early January 2010.

In November 2008, I was elected to my first term serving in the Kansas House of Representatives, serving the 40th District. This is a critical time for the Kansas Legislature and I have been wholeheartedly committed to providing you and your family the best representation possible. To ensure the people of District 40 continue to have a voice in the Kansas Capitol, I have resigned my duties as a state lawmaker. I will continue to serve you in Iraq, but in a different capacity.

The precinct committeemen and women of the 40th District will meet on the 23rd of February to decide who will fill my seat. Once they decide, they will forward the name to the Governor who then makes the appointment.

In an effort to ensure a seamless transition, I have spoken with Candy Ruff, who represented the 40th House District for 16 years. Candy retired last spring, but has graciously agreed to return to Topeka fill my post for the duration of my deployment. Candy knows our district well and has the ability to step right into this position without missing a step. Her years at the Statehouse prove that our community knows and trusts her judgment. She is the best person to assume this position in my absence, but it is ultimately up to the precinct people.

Representing the 40th District is an honor and a privilege. I look forward to the opportunity to resume this responsibility as soon as I can. Thank you for all your support and input.

Sincerely,

Melanie Meier

I do like the KC Star's characterization of Candy Ruff's return to the statehouse...

Comment from Josh on 2009-02-19

2009-02-19T20:53:47Z

I think it's WONDERFUL to have political leaders with military experience. Absolutely wonderful.

It can work out brilliantly (George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Theodore Roosevelt), or sometimes just fairly well (Ulysses Grant, Dwight Eisenhower) or sometimes really really badly (Jimmy Carter).

Comment from BillT on 2009-02-18

2009-02-18T13:48:43Z

I know too many good soldiers who happen to be Democrats to think that being liberal is mutually exclusive to wanting to respond to the call for duty.

Yup, me, too. Funny thing is that most of them veered right in the first couple of years -- they still considered themselves Democrats, but developed decidedly conservative attitudes about several things. One of them makes Dusty look like Janey Garafalo.

Ummmmm -- *politically*...

Comment from AFSister on 2009-02-17

2009-02-17T17:11:55Z

Dennis-
I understand that individuals do get called up with very short notice from time to time- that's why I keep saying "unless she was cross-leveled". Perhaps I should have been more clear. I also know of some who were cross-leveled at the last minute, but not entire units. Her tone and language indicate this was a unit-level deployment; not an individual-level deployment.

Comment from Dennis on 2009-02-17

2009-02-17T15:58:23Z

AFSis,

Not at all that unusual. I mobilized in Nov 2005, with 3 days notice. I was an individual filler and had been trying to volunteer for four years BUT, half of the other fills for my battalion were Individual Ready Reserve. Many had not drilled for over ten years and most of them had to fight for more time, as they also had minimal notice.

Then we spent three months sitting on our hands at Ft. Bragg, but that's another story......

Comment from AFSister on 2009-02-17

2009-02-17T15:42:14Z

I don't think this is moonbattery, Argent. I just find it odd. It doesn't fit with what I've experienced- that an entire unit would be deployed with a week's notice. All I'm saying is that she probably knew well in advance unless she got cross-leveled at the last minute. Keith's been on the bubble several times, and had plenty of advanced notice. As the 1SG of his unit, he was "in the know"- just as a LTC should have been. Like Pogue said, nothing's a done deal until you actually get your orders, and even then things can change, but this wasn't a last minute, unexpected deployment of her unit as her tone/language suggests.

Again, that being said, I do wish her luck, and applaud her service. Having politicians get called up for active duty is not unheard of either. Ohio's Danny Bubp just got back from a year's deployment with the Marines in Iraq. He's in his third term as a State Rep from my area. He's not my Representative, but the responsibility for my county is split between Danny and Joe Ueker, who is my Rep. And Joe Biden's son, the AG, is currently deployed also.

I think it's WONDERFUL to have political leaders with military experience. Absolutely wonderful.

Comment from Pogue on 2009-02-17

2009-02-17T13:58:07Z

(Initial post attempt disappeared in a weird fashion - if a partial shows up, please delete..)

I can see a couple of possibilities here, but I don't see where the conspiracy theories are coming from unless it's the (D) behind her name... Assuming she had a 6 month alert just for conversation, you don't know you're going for sure until you get your orders, which in my case has been up pretty close to the mob date. So she keeps her mouth shut and plans contingencies until she knows for sure - being high profile it's more likely she had to fight to deploy with her unit than not and she wouldn't be sure until the last minute. To start making public statements earlier is just going to put her in a lame duck status and subject to charges of grandstanding for political benefit. I'm willing to accept that just maybe she's doing the best job she can for the longest time she can in her elected position. That doesn't mean I necessarily agree with any or all of her postitions (she's not my representative so to be honest I don't know many of them). I know too many good soldiers who happen to be Democrats to think that being liberal is mutually exclusive to wanting to respond to the call for duty.

Comment from John of Argghhh! on 2009-02-17

2009-02-17T11:57:30Z

Heh. Not paying attention to the deployment travails of the Congress, I didn't put the episode with Congressman Buyer in long-term memory. Or I woulda dredged it up when blathering about Prince Harry and the Brit MoD's reluctance to deploy him, since that exact same logic was used in re: Buyer.

Argent, while I see from whence you come, another difference is that everybody here making those speculative statements has personal experience with the system, in one form or another, and has gone through a deployment process - with the exception of AFSis, whose brother has, and whose affianced serving-boy has. And she, through that, has been involved in Reserve Component Family Support Groups, etc.

So, it *is* indeed speculation, but based on first person experience, not on "well, my buddy, who knows this guy, and his cousin who during the Vietnam war was a Green Beret SEAL team commander with the Pararescue flying medevac choppers from platforms on the Mekong rescuing downed pilots up by Hanoi said..."

Of the assembled horde making the commentary, perhaps the two least qualified are the Centurion and myself, being retired Regulars, vice reservists or Guardsmen. Yet we've known a lot of Reservists and integrated not a few into deployed units, etc.

Comment from Argent on 2009-02-17

2009-02-17T09:13:15Z

Suitably ugly.

Comment from BillT on 2009-02-17

2009-02-17T09:03:02Z

Hah. Good point.

"I DEFY u to contradict it!!!!!!!!!"

Howzat?

Comment from Argent on 2009-02-17

2009-02-17T06:48:18Z

You forgot the pink

Comment from BillT on 2009-02-16

2009-02-17T05:31:02Z

Nah. Moonbattery would be more along the lines of, "Bush KNEW her support was **CRITICAL** to teh passage of teh Ecomonic Stimulous Package and had Chainey call in some markers to get her deployed to IED Alley in Sadder City!!!!!!!!! I DEFY u to contradict it!!!!!!!!!"

*ahem*

Or words to that effect...

Comment from Argent on 2009-02-16

2009-02-17T03:35:56Z

Interesting the attacks made here with a speculative basis. I do believe that is called moonbattery on the left.

Comment from Scott on 2009-02-16

2009-02-17T03:31:40Z

RJewell - it isn't any secret about Buyer. From USA Today

But hours before Buyer was due to ship out, his country said: No thanks. One thing on his résumé gave the Army pause.

Buyer is a congressman.

A letter from Army Secretary Thomas White said his "high profile status" might "put in jeopardy your safety and the safety of those serving around you."

You are entitled to whatever woody you have for him. You just aren't entitled to your own facts.

Comment from AFSister on 2009-02-16

2009-02-17T02:38:59Z

Centurion- your first paragraph is exactly what I'm getting at. It just sounds fishy to me that a LTC would be "unexpectedly" called up along with her own unit. If she had been cross-leveled, I think she would have mentioned it in her press release. Personally, I believe she has known for at least 3 months that she was going, and she's known for quite some time that her unit was at the top, or near the top, of the deployment list. Like Bill said, Reserve units know what the schedule is years in advance, even though actual units aren't necessarily called up until 90 days in advance. She knew, and she delayed telling anyone for a variety of unknown reasons- and that's what bothers me about this.

Comment from lvncenturion on 2009-02-16

2009-02-17T02:18:59Z

I wish LTC Meier well, I hope that she will do her duty and provide useful service for her country. From a political perspective, I think that she is playing games. To make this announcement seven days before her deployment is a fiction that should not stand. National Guard units know far in advance when they are subject to federalization and deployment orders. To be sure, individuals in the Kansas National Guard may find themselves, on short notice, directed to fill vacancies in these units. However, I find it impossible to believe that a member of the State Legislature would be unaware of her fate. She has known for months that she would deploy and is trying to build political capital from that fact. I don't buy it.

LTC Meier: Enjoy your tour in Iraq. Do your duty. When you return, you will find the socialist regime that has been your dream ever since you aligned with the Democrat party in power and expanding the tentacles of its rule throughout the country. Your future is bright..

Comment from R Jewell on 2009-02-16

2009-02-17T01:00:30Z

Scott, you're right.

I am guilty of posting without verifying, and relying on memory.

Buyer is in fact a member of the Army Reserve and not a member of the Indiana National Guard.

JAG........lawyer type

He did serve in Desert Storm........(memory again) lost his law practice because of it.......and got to congress with the supoort of Veterans. I was around for that, ( I know his Mother and Father) and know the folks up there that helped make it hapen.

If you have hard information that he wanted to go on that lap and somebody kept him from it, I'd surely like to see it...........

John has my email addy.....bring it on.

Comment from Scott on 2009-02-16

2009-02-16T22:26:01Z

Representative Steve Buyer (R-In) (Lt. Col. INANG) declined his orders a couple of years ago.

RJewell -- you have most of those facts wrong. First, Congressman Buyer was a member of the Army Reserve, and was never a member of the Indiana, or any other, National Guard. Second, he was mobilized for, and served in, Desert Storm. Third, given his wartime experience in detainee affairs, he volunteered for OIF. He submitted his resignation to the Speaker of the House, and while he was home packing to deploy, the DA cancelled his orders.

So, what orders do you think he "declined"?

Comment from Grumpy on 2009-02-16

2009-02-16T22:09:31Z

@LTC Melanie Meier, from one very "Grumpy" Old Vet, I hope things go well during your deployment. There is no volume loud enough or font big enough to express what is in my heart. The big thing is a simple, "Thank you, for your continual service to this Great Nation."

@To the rest of us: I respectfully submit the following:

This woman is a Member of the House of Representatives for the 40th Congressional District for the State of Kansas. She has paperwork which must be filled out and approved before anything can be done. These processes are done on many levels, but there things in common. They all take precious time. They all take discretion, don't talk about it until it is completely approved. They all take coordination, make sure everything works out at the right time.

Therefore, it is my view, I recognize she received orders for the deployment of a LTC in the US Army Reserve. These very same orders do not answer the issues, but raises them and requires answers. But they can not send a Member of Congress into the Military. But, there is a point in the process where she makes the choice, I believe this is such a case. The LTC chose to release her "Mantle of Authority" as a Member of Congress and put back on The Uniform of the US Army. This choice of change in roles of service to this Great Nation in no way circumvents any of the processes of the previous paragraph. Quite to the contrary, she shows power through submission to the processes. Finally, I believe this woman has earned this Nation's respects.

V/R Grumpy

Comment from htom on 2009-02-16

2009-02-16T21:18:21Z

My guess is that she was told at 90 days that she would be called, and she's spent the last 80 days figuring out to to sell it to her constituants (90 days would have been around Christmas; maybe the letter was delayed.) She may have spent the first of those looking to see if there was a good way to not go; in Kansas, probably not.

I wish her good fortune, and a safe return with her fellows.

Comment from Oldloadr on 2009-02-16

2009-02-16T18:53:15Z

AFSis, it's odd, but it happens. I know several folks who got very short notice deployment orders; both active duty and Guard/Reserve. that normally happens when somebody who was scheduled to go, falls out. This can be due to health issues, personal hardship (due to a temporary family/ personal situation) or a myriad of other disqualifications.

In fact: Once I had to give a SSgt a 1 week notice of a deployment to the ME, because the Med Group dropped the ball (big surprise) and told me 1 week out that another SSgt in my flight did not have the required health clearance to deploy...

Defecation occurs...

Comment from AFSister on 2009-02-16

2009-02-16T17:48:58Z

I am not knocking her service at all- don't get me wrong. But as Bill said, typically speaking, a 90 day notice is more likely than a 7 day notice. So, perhaps she didn't know in the early fall, but she should have known by Oct/Nov, Dec at the latest, if she was being called up in February.

It's just odd to me that she waited until just about the last minute to tell her consituents- especially since the Board isn't going to meet until the day after she leaves. It's just odd to me.

Comment from RetRsvMike on 2009-02-16

2009-02-16T17:16:15Z

...and we had one particular fed legislator (who shall not be named) whose attempts to insinuate himself into an invite to come along down range were politely rebuffed.

and as the Armorer himself intimates, i also thank the good LTC for her service and wish her health and safety and that she brings them all home what go downrange with her on her mission.

Comment from R Jewell on 2009-02-16

2009-02-16T17:00:59Z

She answered the call.

Representative Steve Buyer (R-In) (Lt. Col. INANG) declined his orders a couple of years ago.

Comment from DoesNotMatter on 2009-02-16

2009-02-16T16:14:16Z

Odds that somewhere the person responsible for the recall is feeling very stupid ? Recalling representatives is not something I think is common for the US military, or any military, am right ? Although John Ringo first book, A Hymn before Battle, had an amusing scene were, testing the procedure to recall anybody who ever served in military by limiting it to the high ranks - not that many four stars around - it also recalled every living president since CinC is higher than four star and was appearently in the database.

Comment from BillT on 2009-02-16

2009-02-16T15:40:55Z

"Jacked up" is the phrase, "jacked up" -- "cranked up" is a *good* thing in artillery...

Comment from John of Argghhh! on 2009-02-16

2009-02-16T15:33:32Z

For the record - I don't think Melanie would have fallen into Mike's first category.

I'm perfectly comfortable with the explanation that this many years into the war, the reserve mobilization system is still bent.

Because, for all the rhetoric, parts of the Army just don't behave as if there was a war on.

T'was ever thus, and that's not a back-handed slap at the Reserves.

If things are still cranked up this late in the game, that's an upper-level leadership issue.

Comment from BillT on 2009-02-16

2009-02-16T15:32:53Z

Surely she knew that her unit was being called up for active duty back in the fall-

Lots of factors enter into a callup -- unit size and composition, combat arms or combat support/combat service support, whether you're Guard or Reserve, whether it's a unit callup or an individual one or an MOS-specific adjusted "alphabetically according to height."

My old Guard aviation battalion knew its rotation schedule over two years ago and I know an intel analyst-type over here who got a 90-day notice.

Comment from RetRsvMike on 2009-02-16

2009-02-16T15:28:43Z

would she have known? perhaps not.

i know of more than a few LTCs that we deliberately kept out of the loop prior to notification. and, if she IS a cross-level, that timeline does make even more sense. unit could already be identifying mobilization shortfalls and her skill set matches a hole that they have to fill.

Comment from John of Argghhh! on 2009-02-16

2009-02-16T14:49:32Z

I don't know. All I have is idle speculation.

Comment from AFSister on 2009-02-16

2009-02-16T14:33:56Z

Even more interesting to me is the short notice. She announced today, that she's leaving in about a week for pre-deployment training and isn't expected to be back until January 2010. Surely she knew that her unit was being called up for active duty back in the fall- why wait until now to make this announcement? Even if she was cross-leveled, she should have had more than a week's notice.

Comment from AFSister on 2009-02-16

2009-02-16T14:31:48Z

Interesting times, indeed.