Utah, Idaho reservists face callbacks for duty in Iraq

News media reported Thursday that 30 soldiers each from Utah and Idaho will be called up for involuntary duty in Iraq, but a spokesman for the Utah Army National Guard doubts those numbers.

Lt. Col. Brad Blackner believes 30 is too small for Utah, and because his office hasn't had any official word from the Army's Human Resources Command, Alexandria, Va., he questions the source and accuracy of the recall.

Blackner, Utah National Guard public affairs officer, said Thursday that soldiers, if recalled, would be former truck drivers, mechanics, administrative and logistics specialists and combat engineers.

During Desert Storm/Desert Shield, the first Iraq war, some 22,000 members of the Individual Ready Reserves (IRR) either volunteered for duty or were called up, Blackner said. Since Sept. 9, 2001, about 2,300 members of the IRR have been recalled to duty, he added.

"When the call-up was announced, I had a lot of phone calls from soldiers volunteering to go to Iraq," Blackner said. In the past year, he said, approximately 600 of the 1,200 soldiers who finished their commitments voluntarily went into the IRR.

Lt. Col. Kevin Arata of the Army's Human Resources Command said the recall to active duty includes officers who still hold commissions as well as enlisted personnel. The Army has about 111,000 soldiers in the IRR and announced last week plans to call 5,600 soldiers from the IRR to active duty from across the country. Earlier this spring, Congress authorized the Army to recall up to 6,500 soldiers from the IRR.

Recalled soldiers will be expected to report for duty within 30 days after receiving notice.

The first recall notices went out July 6, and already some soldiers, including officers, have filed federal lawsuits to keep from being recalled to active duty. Under the involuntary mobilization, authorized by presidential executive order, soldiers who think they have grounds for exemption must apply in writing to the Army's Human Resource Command in St. Louis.

Soldiers who fail to comply with their orders will be listed as absent without leave (AWOL) and will be subsequently listed as deserters if they fail to report within 30 days, the Army said.

Arata said about 2,000 of the 5,600 affected soldiers will be notified immediately. The rest will be phased in between August and October. Most of the recalled soldiers will be assigned to Army National Guard and Reserve units already slated for duty in Iraq.

Idaho's 116th Cavalry Brigade is training at Fort Bliss, Texas, for Iraqi duty, but its commander Thursday said he was unaware of any reservists being sent to the unit.

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E-mail: lweist@desnews.com