39 Nevadans could be recalled to duty

Jace Radke

Thursday, July 1, 2004 | 10:53 a.m.

As many as 39 Nevadans could be ordered to active military duty as part of a nationwide recall of more than 5,600 retired and discharged soldiers to fill vacancies in active military units in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In all 5,674 Individual Ready Reserve soldiers will receive alert orders in the coming weeks, but it is unlikely that all of those who receive the orders will return to active duty, Army spokeswoman Rhonda Paige said.

"In Nevada 39 will get the order, but less than that number could be placed on active duty," Paige said. "Once they get the order they will have to go through the screening process, and that is going to cause the numbers to change."

That process involves medical examinations, security clearance validation and the opportunity for soldiers to appeal being returned to active duty. Individual Ready Reserve soldiers who have returned from a combat zone within the past 12 months will not be forced to return to active duty, but can volunteer, Army officials said.

In addition, if it is determined that a soldier will require more than 60 days of reclassification training it is unlikely that the soldier will be mobilized.

Unlike members of the National Guard and Reserve, the individual reservists do not perform regularly scheduled training. Any former enlisted soldier who did not serve at least eight years on active duty is in the Individual Ready Reserve pool, as are all officers who have not resigned their commissions.

For example, a recruit may sign up for five years of active duty, but when finished with the active duty component they remain in the Individual Ready Reserve pool for three more years to reach their full eight-year commitment, 1st Lt. April Conway, a spokeswoman for the Nevada National Guard, said.

More than 111,000 soldiers are in the Individual Ready Reserve, and this marks the first time the Army has called on this category of reservists in substantial numbers since the Gulf War.

Because they have returned from Iraq in the past year, members of Southern Nevada-based National Guard units, the 777th Engineer Utilities Team and 72nd Military Police, who have since become a part of the Individual Ready Reserve will not be forced back to active duty.

Two Nevada National Guard units are already preparing for possible deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Noble Eagle later this year.

About 450 soldiers with the 221st Cavalry and about 100 soldiers with the 1864th Transportation Co. could be deployed as early as this fall.

The 221st is based at the Clark County Armory near Nellis Air Force Base, and drives M1A1 Abrams tanks, while the 1864th is based at the Henderson Armory and transports ammunition and other materials using heavy trucks.

The Army Reserve's Las Vegas-based 313th Military Police Detachment has also been alerted for a possible fall deployment.