The Other Side

**Gasp** I had to go talk to a Republican politician today. I know, I know! Liberals everywhere will think I've converted to the dark side. (Now don't go freaking out on me, I'm under a lot of stress and trying to find humor in it!) Seriously though, I had to visit our Congressman's office. Rep. John Carter (ER anyone?) has been enlisted on our side in a fight with the Department of the Army. You see, N served 6 years in the US Army, was an honorable and capable soldier and leader, was discharged honorably in 2002, and decided to re-enlist. No problem right? We've been through all the hoopla that comes with becoming a federal employee, background checks, statements, fingerprints, psych evals, medical evals, the whole freaking 9 yards. This is a lengthy process for prior service, but worth it since N would get his old rank (Sgt.) and everything back. No basic training again, no starting over. We are 3 months+ into this process, and the light at the end of the tunnel is shining bright. Yesterday, our train derailed BIG TIME. As in "Sorry N, you are barred from enlistment into the Armed Forces, so you have a nice day. Buh-Bye now!" Turns out that a police record from Jan 2004, that they have known about ALL ALONG, is suddenly a problem in the Army's eyes. Here's where it gets messy... you cannot enter the armed forces with certain criminal backgrounds. However, the police record is only that, court records show N was *not* charged with the alleged crime, and the courts have told the Army so. The officer's narrative is simply the opinion of the officer, and was later proven to be incorrect. I was there, people!! I was there when he was arrested, I went to court with him, we cleared his name, it was all cleared up in front of a city judge. So, based on Army regs N *is* eligible for enlistment, and the police record is simply a formality that must be disclosed. An eligible, capable, well-trained soldier is ASKING to be re-enlisted, which is his right, and the Army refused. The same Army who is hurting for soldiers, who cannot enlist enough soldiers to fulfill the needs of our military, the Army who is using a back-door draft of reservists to fill Active Duty slots turned N away. How many of you know National Guardsmen or reservists who were activated to go to Iraq? That happened because there were not enough soldiers on active duty. Well, we knew someone had screwed the pooch on this one, and set out to prove it. We pulled the enlistment regulations, and marched into our Congressman's office. The representative for Carter's office spoke with us, reviewed our documents, and agreed. He told us they are opening a Congressional review of it, and we are feeling pretty confident the enlistment will go through quickly. The funny thing is, the rep told us most people come to them looking for an exception to the rule, but we were simply asking for the rules to be enforced. Hopefully, the rules will in fact be enforced, and N's civil rights will be recognized. Why am I blogging this? Because it's one of the most intimitdating fights I've been a part of, but it's also an important one. For those of you who pray, to whomever you pray to, please say a little prayer for us. This is hugely important to my family right now.