Requirement holds back some reservists (Not getting promotions)

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=19180

Army 1st Lt. Sarah Whittington is missing something on her rank insignia — the other half of her captain’s bars.

Whittington, an Army Reserve emergency room nurse at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, is among an unknown number of reservists and National Guard officers whose promotions are on hold while they are deployed.

At a time when more than 130,000 Army Reserve and National Guard troops have been activated to fight in the war against terror, the problem has again raised the specter of unequal treatment of Army Reservists.

The promotion problem stems from a requirement, which applies to both Army Reserve and National Guard troops, for soldiers to be in a position of the higher grade before they can be promoted, National Guard spokesman Maj. Hunt Kerrigan said.

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(Whittington): “It’s one more slap in the face,” she said. “I’m good enough to take care of our wounded troops, but I’m not good enough to get promoted.”