MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — A veteran who has been out of the military for 15 years and recently received his AARP card was stunned when he received notice he will be deployed to Iraq. The last time Paul Bandel, 50, saw combat was in the early 1990s during the Gulf War. “(I was) kind of shocked, not understanding what I was getting into,” said Bandel.
In 1993, Bandel took the option of leaving the Army without retirement and never thought he would be called back to action. “Here he’s 50 years old, getting his AARP card, and here he’s being redeployed with all these 18-year-olds,” said Paul’s wife, Linda Bandel. “I can understand, say, ‘Here, we have this assignment for you stateside. Go do your training,’” said Paul Bandel. “But, ‘Hey, here’s a gun, go back to the desert.’” Involuntary recall allows the military, regardless of age or how long someone has been out of service, to order vets back into active duty. “Anger’s not the word. I was more concerned about the financial impact it’s going to do. My pay’s probably cut in half,” said Paul Bandel.
“Right now, I’m just in disbelief because it’s like the disbelief that this could be happening 15 years after being out of the military. It’s like a dream or a nightmare,” said Linda Bandel. The veteran is dusting off his old uniforms and torn between his duty to his country and obligations as a grandfather. “I certainly never thought I’d be going back there at this point in my life,” said Paul Bandel. The last missile system the veteran was trained to operate is no longer used by the military. Calls to the Army and the Pentagon about how many men and women in their 50s are being called back to duty were not returned Wednesday.
Holy Smokes….That’s only a couple years from my age, I better check my enlistment contract, and get my attorney on the phone.
#19
Vanquish evil? Sounds like something from a comic book. You mean like WWII where we went for that evil Hitler, and then let Stalin (just as evil and for most of the same reasons) take eastern europe?
There’s no vanquishing evil, or good, while they still serve a purpose in human evolution.
#20 Mister Mustard
>>A national draft will do that lickety-split.
Hard to argue with that, but I prefer a more personal approach in that the guy who makes the decision for war must be the first to take the beach. That way the nation will truly know if we are entering a necessary war or just a pissing contest.
#21 amodedoma
You pretty much called it with Hitler, and are right about Stalin. Unfortunately politicians are selfish creatures and never allow the job to get finished.
#22 – ‘tempt
>>but I prefer a more personal approach in
>>that the guy who makes the decision for war
>>must be the first to take the beach
Naw. Heart Attack Cheney would have keeled over before the first shot was fired.
Just as productive (not to mention more likely to happen) is to have his muff-muncher daughter and Dumbya’s twins manning the front lines. That would have separated the chickenhawks from the warriors.
If I was recalled, I would happily go. The military is that which saved your dumb asses in WWII. If not for a country full of men who felt like me, you bitches would all be speaking German or Japanese now. This country is full of fruits now. That includes you, Mustard.
#23 Mister Mustard
>>muff-muncher daughter
That’s right, I had forgotten that. Well, don’t ask don’t tell… Hey you get your head out of her lap and watch for road mines!
#24 – Ruger P89
>> This country is full of fruits now. That
>>includes you, Mustard.
You’re named after a 9mm pistol and you’re calling ME a fruit? HAW!! Whassamatta, pantie-boy, a real gun too much for ya? I’ll bet you’d crap your nickers at the sight of a 1911-A1, or worse yet, a Desert Eagle. P89. Tee hee!
Fruit. {snicker}
#26 Mustard, you are a jerk. And, obviously, still in denial.
#27 – Kimmie
In denial about what?
It’s nice that you’ve upgraded to .45 ACP, but you still sound like a pantie-boy.
First, 50 ain’t that old. I’ll be 60 next month and I spent 7 years of my 5th decade in Afghanistan and then a short time in Iraq. I wasn’t a soldier but I was often in danger.
Secondly, he knew he was available for recall. I’m sure he got a check every month to make sure he would be available. He could have sought retirement/discharge at any time.
I served during the Vietnam “conflict.” I was a corpsman and knew a man who’d been drafted early on right out of college. After he finished his term, he went to school on the GI bill and became a doctor. They RE-drafted him because they needed doctors. He told me he didn’t mind that much because as a new doctor he got all sorts of great experience. They let him out and, based on his second time in the Army, he decided to become an orthopedic surgeon. After training, they took him again because orthopods are always needed in a war. This is when I knew him and he still wasn’t all that upset because, again, he was getting the best training in the world. Nothing like a little war to train bone surgeons.
I reckon they are planning to call up all the 50 years old because, having not grown up with Nintendo or Atari they have the physical necessary to be a soldier ….
What they fail to mention for some dumb reason is that this guy is an officer who has not, apparently, resigned his commission. Until he does, he IS on the hook for life.
Call me up. Ain’t had no fun since that first Korean R&R to JaPan right after we dusted their tails with the big one. A few Viagra pills and I would be good as back then.
Might as well go, Bush not only started a war but stole my retirement as incentive for me to find a new source of income. Maybe the military could even give me a few of the pills I can’t afford now, for relieving the old arthritis.
I would need a new uniform though, lost mine when my seabag fell in the dumpster on my way out of Pendleton.
# 8 gquaglia said,
on January 2nd, 2009 at 4:13 pm
“…Without the military you would be speaking German now, that is unless you are Jewish.”
And if Israel and the Zionists have their way, those American service personnel still alive will be speaking Hebrew!
#29 There were no checks coming in for this person, assuming this statement is correct. “In 1993, Bandel took the option of leaving the Army without retirement…” I’m assuming that what they meant to say is that he separated from the Army before he made 20 years.
He’s certainly not the first person to be involuntarily recalled. And its important to note that this recall is *not* limited to those who are drawing military retirement pay.
MisterMustard is right on about the draft. Let evryone serve regardless of monetary or social status. I served during Viet Nam although not in the war zone. Not everyone in the military are combat soldiers you know although they know which end of the weapon is the business end. I think it would do the little snowflakes good to get away from Mom and Dad’s basement. Poor things.
# 31 Winston said, “What they fail to mention for some dumb reason is that this guy is an officer who has not, apparently, resigned his commission.”
Come on! You want truthful reporting?
Come on, folks! Look at the picture. This really can’t be a 50 yr old guy…wearing a WWl helmet? It’s just a way to rile folks up.
The gov, despite what many would like to have you believe, just doesn’t call up people for military service who have no commitment to such service.
It’s my bet this guy hasn’t been “out” of the military for 15 years. Rather, he’s probably been, as someone suggested, drawing a reserve check, making a few meetings, and expecting to draw retirement when he gets enough points without having to go through what those who do their time on active duty have to go through.
He made a bet (that he would never get called up) and he lost. Seems to be his problem.
This is a non-issue.
# 31 Winston said, on January 3rd, 2009 at 7:42 am
What they fail to mention for some dumb reason is that this guy is an officer who has not, apparently, resigned his commission. Until he does, he IS on the hook for life.
====================================
I don’t think you are incorrect. If he isn’t on active or reserve duty, or retired, but once held a commission, then he resigned his commission. You don’t roll off active/reserve status (without retiring) without resigning; otherwise, they’d just issue you new orders.
As I recall (from dim memory), if you have ever held a regular commission, you are (technically, I think it’s in title 10 U.S.C. somewhere) subject to recall at ANY time, “subject to the pleasure of the President.”
I don’t want to hear from some civilian, bed-wetting sissies, but if any JAG’s out there can shed light on this issue, I’d like their read.
So a 50yr old is allegedly recalled to duty.
While that age seems ancient to some of you it is younger than I am and I still work.Lol.
If the US Military is stupid enough to send “military unfit” personnel to war zones then they need to be told to stop by you their people.
It is not for those they recall I ask this but for those who serve.
Regular trained soldiers deserve someone who can truly “watch their back” not someone they would know is a liability through no fault of their own.
What is clear to me from this discussion is that if we were on different sides of the fence in a war zone which of us would lay down our arms and offer to end the War/difference of opinion.
You tell me……
Better him then anyone’s kids.