I am so sick of this

[moderndayhippie]

Marines tours being extended in Afghanistan

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080703/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_afghanistan_marines

Yes, I know it is only for 30 days, but that is still a big F'n deal, considering that they're NOW saying they need more troops there (though there are "no plans" to send more). yes, only 30 days... but do you know what that will

Comments

[mutiny_abounds]

I hear ya. I can only imagine how bad it is for you, considering what I'm experiencing at this end is already hellish.

[riseabove]

Yeah. And those first 3 months are debriefing, to boot. So, you get 3 months of keeping on working right after redeploying, then maybe 30 days block leave if you're lucky... and then 9 months of training. pfft!

[whoasksfinds]

more troops will be sent to afghanistan in 2009. thats a given. but nowadays when you sign up for the military, you do it knowing full well we are engaged in battle in two different countries and that we rely on volunteers to fight those wars. if you arent prepared to be deployed you are in the wrong business. some of us actually signed up for this, and i bet some of those marines are having fun not being in iraq.

[moderndayhippie]

:) I sense a bit of frustration in that comment. It's okay though. I always like to hear your opinion, even if we disagree.

Yes, some of you did sign up for it, but not all signed up for multiple deployments crammed together. And I'm fairly certain that no one expected the timelines to be as arduous as they are. I'm just saying, I don't think it is healthy for our servicemen to be under the constant stress of battle. But that's just me.

And personally, I'm discouraged if Marines are reassuring themselves by saying "well hey, atleast it's not Iraq!". That just seems like the wrong answer to me.

[whoasksfinds]

i just get annoyed when people complain about being deployed when they volunteered to serve in the military during a war. but thats just me :)

i can understand the strain it puts people and their girlfriends under. i really can. but to me i look at the bigger picture. i put my country above myself and see success in iraq and afghanistan as more important than me.

and dont be discouraged about the marines. were volunterring to go to afghanistan.

[moderndayhippie]

Yep, that's just the difference between the two of us. It's your duty to serve your country as a serviceman and it's my duty to serve the servicemembers as a military spouse.

Yes, it is hard on the family, but that's not why I get so upset. I get upset because i have seen the lives of many people I love be destroyed by their time in multiple war zones. I put the welfare of American lives over the steadfastness of government failures.

I'm not against the occupation of Afghanistan, I'm against jerking soldiers/marines around all the time.

But my soldier feels the way you do, even if he doesn't believe things will change. He thinks his sacrifices would be wasted if we left either place and I can understand where he is coming from. I'm just coming from somewhere else.