Friday, September 27, 2013

If Government Shuts Down, most Reserve Drills Cancelled


Only “excepted" military operations will be allowed to continue to drill


By Jenny Swigoda
ROA, Content Manager


With the threat of a possible government shutdown looming, a senior defense official outlined consequences for members of the Reserve and Guard in a conference call on Friday, Sept. 27. Only those units in an inactive duty for training status who are on the ramp for activation for “excepted” military operations (i.e. Afghanistan) will be allowed to continue to drill.


“We are reflecting the law and the interpretation of it, this is not based on policy,” said the senior defense official.

The official stated that retirees will continue to receive pay as those funds are appropriated through a trust fund. Delays in pay may occur if the shutdown goes beyond a couple of days.

Additionally, state commissaries will close and military health care centers will be restricted to life-threatening situations.

On the call, ROA’s Executive Director, Major General Andrew B. Davis, USMC (Ret.) expressed concern for the government shutdown and the possible affects it could have on the Reserve Component.

“As an association chartered to advocate for a strong national defense and a strong Reserve force, ROA urges Congress to avert a government shutdown. Specifically, curtailment of Reserve training from drill to annual training will severely degrade our nation’s defense readiness in a world that is still very dangerous. Reserve readiness is perishable. We will continue to monitor closely the continued delivery of retirement and health insurance benefits that has been assured by Defense officials,” said Maj Gen Davis. 


11 comments:

Mark said...

I think you mean "excepted" military operations/service members, not "accepted." The idea is that everyone in the federal government is furloughed "except" certain categories of employees.

Maj Sobieski said...

Even points-only IDTs? They don't obligate funds but nobody seems to be talking about points-only IDTs, just paid IDTs.

Anonymous said...

No Mark, the writer is talking about those operations that have been "acccepted" to continue (e.g those for Afghanistan).

Anonymous said...

Anonymous & Mark: Then why does the title of the post say "excepted"?

jf.moo said...

No No No They Would Still Drill An More Unite Would Actavae To The Work Of Said GOVERMENT. GEN:JFMoore

Anonymous said...

Accepted and excepted. yes, English is not taught as it used to be; so often wrong words are used or misspelled, especially on 'crawls' on TV.

Marc said...

All Congressional(legislative) and Presidential (executive ) pay, benefits and allowance are halted until a budget agreement is reached. House Members, Senate Members, President and Vice President furloughed "except" if a budget is " accepted".

ReserveOfficer said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReserveOfficer said...

The correct word is 'excepted' as per the language in the report:


http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R41745.pdf


Anonymous said...

If you happen to be a vet and also retired from military, part of your VA compensation is deducted from your retirement check.If you are a member of congress you receive your pay and compensation even if you do not do your job and even shut down the government. Reserve drills are cut, people are furlowed, Congress members life styles untouched, is this correct?

ALoA said...

The language used to say "essential" and "non-essential" personnel to help distinguish who a shut down would affect. Then about 2 years ago it was decided by congress the word "non-essential" was "hurtful and derogatory" so they changed it to be excepted and non-excepted