Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Nothing like showing one's true colors. Thank you. Good luck. You're welcome. At least Cincinnatus is currently serving our country and is in the process of being deployed to a combat zone. What are you up to?

If you could explain WTF that has to do with any topic here, I'd be glad to fill you in on my career both military and professional.  
I'll be waiting for your explanation, in the meantine you could tell us all what you've been doing, since that seems so important to you and apparently makes some type of difference?  

Hell no...

Just another excuse to outsource everything to China and India.

Quoted: Get activiated and your salary goes from say $50-60,000 year down to $30,000. That would be tough. And just asking.

No

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Nothing like showing one's true colors. Thank you. Good luck. You're welcome. At least Cincinnatus is currently serving our country and is in the process of being deployed to a combat zone. What are you up to? If you could explain WTF that has to do with any topic here, I'd be glad to fill you in on my career both military and professional.   I'll be waiting for your explanation, in the meantine you could tell us all what you've been doing, since that seems so important to you and apparently makes some type of difference?

I agree. I suppose he would want you to have a medical degree to discuss an illness.

I'll jump in here, to hopefully tone down the rhetoric and return things to a more civil way of discussing things.

My service does not give me any extra points in terms of winning debates or having opinions, just as someone's lack of service does not disqualify anyone from expressing theirs..

However, I can say this:

In my current position and for the past several years, I have been able to witness the effects of deployments on the lives and financial well-being of reservists.  Since 1986, in addition to serving on active duty, I have been a reservist from time to time.  While serving as a reservist, I have also been: a college student, college teacher, employee, employer, business owner, home owner, renter, landlord, single, married, father, penniless and well off.
I have three Marines who are right now trying to get Hardship Discharges because of the impact being a reservist has on their ability to earn a living.
In all of their cases, SINCE JOINING, they have chosen a career that requires them to work on weekends.  Trade Shows, Casinos, Catering, etc..  Not a wise choice of a career, if you have a pre-existing commitment to the Marine Corps.
ONE of these Marines can't pay his bills (many kids and a Mother inlaw).  His I approved.
The other two are simply frustrated that they can't make the big bucks.  So sad, too bad.

I've known Doctors who were deployed and took a hit.  Smart guys, they should have realized the possibilty and prepared for it, OR don't take the money for school.

I've known Lawyers who were deployed and took a hit.  Smart guys, they should have realized the possibilty and prepared for it, OR don't take the money for school.

I know Marines who built small businesses with employees.  Roofing, Contracting, Garments, Cleaning services, Landscaping, etc.
For these guys it's a shame, because they were in throughout the 90's and never deployed.  Their civilian careers did as careers often do; they grew and changed.  For them, deployments hurt their businesses.
Good partners are hard to come by, and many of these businesses suffered.  As did mine.
But then they/we all knew the possibility.  Had we not been ready for it, we shouldn't have signed on the line.  If things are tough, don't re-up.

Many of the committed reservists are tailoring their careers towards something that will allow for future deployments, without impacting on their lives more than necessary.  That's the future of the reserves.
My current unit is WAY over T/O.  We have more men than we need.  We live in one of the most expensive areas of the country, too. (New Jersey).
We can deal with it.  Others should suck it up, and deal with it too.
War is hell.  What did they expect?  





From the faded poster on my Recruiter's wall:

"We  never promised you a Rose Garden..."

Quoted: I would say no... However that said I think that there should be some relief for the families of people serving. Maybe they could have some type of program that the bills ( CC, CAR, HOUSE) could be deferred for the lenght of time they are called up for. This should help out at least on the finacial end. We should do our best to assist those fighting for our freedoms.

Already have the Soldiers andd Sailors Act to shave interest rates down to 6 % while deployed.

In my case, the CC companies DID knock it down to 6 % while I was deployed, but when I got back and the controls were off, one in particular jacked my rate immediately up to 25 %  (!!!!!) Probably their attempt to make up for lost interest or something ( MBNA, for those of you who are interested in that sort of thing). As a result, I haven't charged anything else on that card and am trying to pay it off so I can dump it.

Having my loans through a small employer related credit union helped because they froze the principle on my car loans, but once I got back, that still meant I had  acar that was a year older with a relatively large loan amount on it.

My mortgage was already below the S & S 6 % cap, so that was unaffected.

One guy in my unit would have had a $50,000 pay cut if he'd been activated; in his case they kept him back because he was slotted to go to OCS. In my case, the year away was a $20,000 cut. My employer for about 3 months made up the difference in my base pay, and after that I burned up accrued leave time  at a partial rate to stay on their books so my family could keep BC/BS for  health insurance, as I don't trust Tricare.