A guy friend of mine is in the marines, and starts boot camp this coming December 17th. He is not in infantry- in fact, he will be building and driving humvees, and will most likely not be stationed in Iraq. I am well aware that anybody, no matter what position they're in, can be deployed to Iraq for infantry. My friend will be serving a four year term in the military, what are the chances that over that time he will be deployed? Will this upcoming election lower the chances of him being sent to Iraq?
2007-11-29 11:21:04 · 17 answers · asked by Penelope 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Military
I would say that his chances of deploying at least once during his four year term are pretty good. I just read the other day in the paper that 1ST CAV is not being replaced by any rotations of Army units when they start returning to the states, so there will be about 5,000 less soldiers there shortly. When I deployed to Iraq in 2003 and I did get to do my job to a point, however, when I deployed in 2005 to Afghanistan, I did not get to do my job at all (I was the Battle NCO in our TOC). Plus, I was responsible for making sure that each guard shift at our ECP ran smoothly. Basically, what I'm getting at is that when and if his unit gets tapped, he will go, however, I have a few friends that have unusual MOS's and they were 'handpicked' to leave their nondeploying unit and deploy with another unit also.
2007-11-29 11:41:17 · answer #1 · answered by Derby Girl 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Well first of all, if they are not infantry, they will not be deployed as infantry. In Iraq right now, with the infastructure that has been built you have everything from cooks, to admin people, to finance people, or what we call PAC. Military lawyers etc. At the end of the day, every uniformed personnel is infantry when it comes down to it. But that scenario would be very isolated.
Second, he will not be building Humvees. The military doesn't build Humvees. I would say he may be a mechanic.
With the amount of National Guard and Reserve troops over there, if there is a decrease, they will pull them first. So active duty will remain. I would say election or not, Boot camp 8-11 weeks, his AIT (advance individual training,) if he is a mechanic say 6-8 weeks. Then he has a really good chance of going to play in the sandbox.
2007-11-30 11:00:07 · answer #2 · answered by momusmusic 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋
My son is a US Marine and will deploy in February, he went to boot camp this past April. However, I have a friend whose son is in bootcamp right now and good information has it that there is a 50/50 chance he'll never go. It takes about 8 months to a year to get you in the fleet and ready to go. By then, the elections will be on us and regardless of what you hear, Bush will want the troops coming back home around that time. He wants this mess off his watch before he leaves office.
2007-11-30 21:37:44 · answer #3 · answered by Mike B 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Marines (capital M) are supposed to be taken out of Iraq over time and deployed to Afghanistan since there isn’t much for them to do in Iraq, I’m told.
What are the chances of him being deployed, over time? Probably 100% but it doesn’t mean he’s going to Iraq or Afghanistan. As a rough guess, I would say his chances of going to either Iraq or Afghanistan are probably around 30%-40% (but this number can change depending on mission needs), but it also matters which unit he’s assigned to. If his unit deploys to Iraq, guess where he’ll be fixing HMMWVs. As for him being pulled away to join an infantry platoon, I doubt it.
Just keep in mind that Iraq is still safer than some cities within our own country.
2007-11-29 21:02:37 · answer #4 · answered by Yuriy 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
In your friend's case, there's a strong chance he will be deployed to a combat zone. However, there is a strong push within the Marine Corps to have the USMC take over Afghanistan operations, and leave Iraq to the Army. So, if this division of duties happens it could reduce his chances of going to Iraq to nearly zero.
As for overall odds, there are relatively few members of the Air Force or the Navy in Iraq. Being in one of those branches would make it unlikely (although certainly not impossible) to be deployed to Iraq.
2007-11-29 20:25:41 · answer #5 · answered by bryan_tannehill 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Most likely, he will be going to Iraq. Just because he is not in infantry, doesn't mean he won't go to Iraq. The military has combat, and combat support, that is what your friend seems to be. There is a possibility that with the upcoming elections not as many troops will go to Iraq as they did a few years ago. You have thousands of soldiers over in Iraq even though they are not in infantry. My nephew is in the Marines and he is waiting to start his AIT in January, and with his MOS (not infantry) he has a chance going over to Iraq. I hope this helps. Thank you.
2007-11-29 20:25:34 · answer #6 · answered by beckyschristine 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I would definitely say that the upcoming elections will change things with the possibilities of him going to Iraq. But, as long as we still have troops in Iraq, there is a very good possibility that he will end up there within the next two years.
2007-11-29 19:27:10 · answer #7 · answered by mnid007 4 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Very high. Iraq is the hotspot and where the military needs manpower the most.
If you don't love your country enough to give your life to save thousands on your homesoil, the military is no place for you. If you love your country but have no respect for the traditions of the military, the military is not the place for you.
Soldiers go where they are needed when they are needed. They swore an oath to defend the nation against all enemies and our enemies are in Iraq. If you don't believe that then don't join. The Army and the USMC does not need you that badly. If they did, there would be a draft.
Your friend should know this and he clearly loves his nation enough to put his life on the line to protect it with his life.
God bless your friend and God bless all who serve in this nation's armed forces.
2007-11-29 19:39:57 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
People who are not infantry do not serve as infantry; in fact, a deployment is one of the few times most folks in the military actually get to do the jobs they were trained to do. The Army and Marines have plenty of infantrymen; they're not going to waste people in other specialities by having them go on patrols or conduct raids. That doesn't mean other combat MOS's don't do those things, because they do. That also doesn't mean that your friend won't be doing things NOT related to his job, such as guard duty, or pulling security on a convoy, or escort duty for Iraqi day laborers, or anything else they need. I did all of those things, as well as my actual job. But I never did the things most folks associate with infantrymen nor would I claim to have done so. His chances of being sent to Iraq depend entirely on the unit he is in, not what his job is. Not EVERYONE gets deployed, you know. Bear in mind that the Marines don't generally get deployed as long as Army units do, but they DO get deployed. As I said, it depends entirely on his unit, NOT his job.
2007-11-29 19:29:29 · answer #9 · answered by ಠ__ಠ 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The chance of deployment is never going to be 100%, no matter what any ignoramus tells you. And no one is stationed in Iraq, except I guess the MNF-I Commander and CSM. Everyone else is deployed.
The Marine corps has HMMWVs in Iraq. They need people to fix them.
The upcoming election will not lower anyone's chances of deploying to Iraq.
2007-11-29 19:31:47 · answer #10 · answered by DOOM 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋