News First has reported that the unit wants all its soldiers to be there for the next 36 months. That means getting many soldiers to extend their service contracts. The army is offering bonuses up to $10,000 to reenlist. Those who choose not to will likely be reassigned, possibly to units deploying to Iraq. Some soldiers call that coercion.
This is, perhaps, the most under-reported story in the mainstream supposedly “liberal” media. Congrats to Newsfirst at KOAA-TV (a TV station in Colorado Springs) for covering the story nobody wants to touch. You can expect some interesting lawsuits when this Iraq thing is done with. More taxpayer money down the drain.
OK, so this is the way I understand it. If I’m a soldier in this unit I can voluntarily extend my contract and get $10,000 now and end up going to Iraq sometime in the next 6 months when my unit gets rotated back, or I can be transfered to a unit going to Iraq now and have my contract involuntarily extended. Thanks Lt-Col for the choice.
I don’t think you can sue the U.S. government unless they allow you to.