Alito & ROTC ?s.

[Botany]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/02/AR2005110202722.html

Active duty from Sept. to Dec. 1975 at a base in Georgia. 4 months .... What a warrior.
Will a democratic have the balls to bring this up in the senate when they are debating before the
vote? Or that his wife's crying was staged?

Turns out his real interest in ROTC was keeping his ass out of Vietnam.

[Coastie for Truth]

1. Were you "draft bait" during VietNam? I was

You posted

Turns out his real interest in ROTC was keeping his ass out of Vietnam.

My real interest in joining the Coast Guard for four years was keeping my ass out of Vietnam.

Unless "botany" is an alias for Murtha, John Kerry, Bob Kerrey, etc. and you are a "decorated" (i.e., more then just a National Defense Service ribbon) VietNam veteran .... stop the obvious "Swift Boat Veterans"-Joe Corsi-John O'Neill stuff.

There are more valid points to raise--
Choice/Privacy
Executive Power
Work place law

And if you search my appends you will see that I have repeatedly posted on "workplace law" - Norris-LaGuardia/NLRB/NLRA, OSHA, ERISA, ADA, etc. The guy is an absolute disaster for the working American on the factory floor.

[Botany]

3. ????????

What are you talking about?

4 months on active duty = a strange commitment.

Besides I have no problem w/ people who wanted to stay out of Vietnam doing what ever
but Alito is just another chicken hawk.

[Coastie for Truth]

7. 4 months? Yes

The ROTC commitment during VietNam was 2-3 years (no college scholarship) to 6 years (if the DOD paid tuition, books, lab fees, room and board).

If you opted for 2-3 years (no scholarship) the ROTC contract provided that you could be released earlier "for the convenience of the government." (That means if the war ended).

Another point - while discretionary - the military was granting graduate school DELAYS of active duty to attend graduate school. This as not a deferment - the student was ordered to active duty - and then granted "leave" or "liberty" to complete grad school. You were already in the military in an "awaiting orders" status. Alito apparently had one of those DELAYS to attend law school - because the law school DRAFT DEFERMENTS, and most grad school DRAFT DEFERMENTS were ended in 1968.

As far as US troop commitments and repatriation of POWs - the war "ended" in the spring of 1973 (Signing of the Paris Accord - Jan. 27, 1973)

ROTC students with a two-three year obligation (i.e., no financial aid) graduating in Spring 1973 and thereafter were released after 4-8 months of active duty.

This may all be goobledegook to young folks - but I was going this goobledegook in the 1960's.

[KeepItReal]

12. You are so right. ROTC is not an auto Active Duty committment

When I was in Army ROTC in the early 90's getting an Active Duty slot was definitely not guaranteed, as the military was downsizing. Upon Commission, you were much more likely to get a Army Reserve spot.

I can't stand this Alito guy, but the ROTC thing is a non-issue. Just another smart move by that guy.

[unblock]

2. i thought the rotc deal was 4 years of college for 4 YEARS of service?

was it different back then?

[Sydnie]

4. I didn't realize they gave you that much money for ROTC

service. It's not the GI Bill.

[unblock]

5. currently you can get scholarships for up to $20,000/year

[Sydnie]

6. Wow, I had no idea

Was that the case when Alito was there? Did he get money for college that way?

[Coastie for Truth]

9. "Probably Not" (?)

If he qualified for an "early out."

[Coastie for Truth]

8. That's with a scholarship.

Most ROTC students did not have a scholarship - so it was two-three years (with a chance of an early out at 4-8 months).

[unblock]

10. so he got the earliest of the early outs?

what did it take to get an early out?

[Coastie for Truth]

11. In his case, a combination of

1. "Right place at the right time" or, more likely, "Not being at the wrong place at the wrong time."

2. Excess people in his MOS.