Call-ups to create trooper shortage (in Mississippi)

[lebkuchen]

The Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol will be down about 80 officers by September because of military call-ups, officials said Tuesday.

About 30 troopers on active reserve with the 1st battalion, 155th infantry in McComb, have been deployed to Camp Shelby in the past year and about 50 more are expected to leave by September, said spokesman Warren Strain.

And with a budget crunch, no money has been allocated to conduct a trooper class this year, postponing the training until next year, Strain said.

The 80 open positions can't be filled because while overseas a state trooper's position must be held open until his return from duty, Strain said.

-snip-

The personnel shortage will come as the state is beginning to see an upward trend in the number of fatalities statewide, Patrol officials said in a news release, citing MHP records.


http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040804/NEWS01/408040377/1002

[Sporadicus]

1. Oddly Enough, I Heard a Similar Story on Local News This Morning

It told how the local sheriff's department was facing a personnel shortage over months ahead due to reservists being called for duty in Iraq.

[lebkuchen]

3. Mississippians are afraid of terrorists. They should be more concerned for

their safety from each other--drunk drivers, teen speeders and so on. There's been a nearly 30% cut in the state's HWY Safety Patrol thanks to Bush's war.

They must love to suffer, though. Over 60% of them are voting for Bush.

[truthisfreedom]

2. so we have civilian casualties at home as a result of the invasion abroad.

get Kerry on this!

[lebkuchen]

4. How many of those 30 HWY patrol officers will vote for Kerry?

Kerry says he's going to bring troops home. We know Bush will only escalate. He's doing that right now. US troops in South Korea are headed to Iraq right now.

Think Mississippi will get the message?

[wishlist]

5. Kerry said at convention he wants to stop the back door draft

Kerry has begun addressing this problem. We are certainly putting 'Homeland Security' at risk by deploying so many in the Guard and Reserves and sending them away causing law enforcement shortages. Plus, what if we have a life-threatening emergency in U.S. from a terrorist attack or natural disaster such as a hurricane or earthquake.

[lebkuchen]

6. Yes, Kerry wants to end stop-loss

The Guard and Reserves have been hit hard by these deployments. Recruiters have been having difficulty reaching quotas, so they've had to dip to the bottom of the barrel for poorer quality recruits.

A support group out of Fort Carson, Colorado is headed back to Iraq in October for a second time. Think that decision has had any effect on reenlistment there?

http://www.insidedenver.com/drmn/america_at_war/article/0,1299,DRMN_2116_2961385,00.html

GIs marching away from re-enlistment

By Dick Foster, Rocky Mountain News
June 14, 2004

COLORADO SPRINGS - Army re-enlistments have dropped suddenly and dramatically at Fort Carson and several other posts where combat units have recently returned from Iraq.

The surprising decline within the past 21/2 months has jolted recruiters and military analysts and provoked questions about the war's effect on the Army's recruiting ability.