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Duty First, Education Second
By John Dvorak

President George W. Bush has insisted that the war on terrorism will not be a short one. The hunt for Osama Bin Laden is intensifying while the use of ground troops in Afghanistan is escalating. While this "Operation Enduring Freedom" has widespread public support, it has still raised many questions and uncertainty for many people. For some it's the fear of losing their job, and others may be concerned about the larger picture and long term effects of such an undefined war. For many United States Army Reserves, the time is now and the situation is clear. Duty to their country stands first and education comes second when it really comes down to it. But that's not the way it was supposed to be for the thousands of student/ reservist men and women. Those reservists, who are working on completing their education, have been placed into a situation that they did not really anticipate too long ago - having their duty to the Reserves interfere with their higher education and the peace in their lives.

Plans have drastically changed for Private First Class Allen Luo. He signed on for six years a year and a half ago, but is only of sophomore standing at NYU. "If I leave in the middle of a semester, NYU is probably not going to refund my tuition or scholarships for that particular semester," says Luo, "I really hope that things don't turn out that badly, but you never know, so I'm just waiting to see what happens. Meanwhile, I carry on with my class work as if the possibility of mobilization doesn't exist."

Very few reservists have been called to active duty this early in the campaign. Thus far, only men and women who have had experience in prior conflicts like the Balkans, Somalia, and Iraq have been sent, and those are very few. "I'm not really expecting to leave for the Middle East any time soon. I gather that if I will be mobilized, it will be more for "homeland defense" than anything, whatever that means," Private Luo says, but acknowledges that his training will serve him well. "Being on active duty, to me, pretty much means regressing into the conditions that I'd experienced during basic training. Sure, it was tough, but I liked doing things up to military standards every day. Like I already mentioned, I'm almost completely sure I'll be called into active duty, but I'm just not sure where and for what."

Ever since the Sept. 11 attacks, Private Cefaan Kim has had similar feelings as Luo. For two weeks following the attacks, Kim had his bags packed, adrenaline pumping, ready to go. But now he doesn't thing he'll be mobilized until this coming spring at the earliest: "the thing is, soldiers get rotated in a six month cycle. So the threat of leaving for deployment would be in the next surge - sometime in spring. Until then I won't worry much." "I'd much rather stay," Kim admits, "not for fear of dying really, but more so my daily flow of life doesn't get disrupted. After all, my personal reason for enlisting was to help pay for school - so I'm a student before a soldier. But don't tell my first sergeant that!"

Many reservists joined for financial reasons. The Montgomery GI bill, passed in 1985, doles out funds to help subsidize the reservist's education. There is a ceiling to these funds, and while it will pay for a good portion of a public education, it covers a relatively small percentage of the cost of four years at NYU.

Kim also wanted some discipline in his life that he didn't get in college around the dormitory. Another reason is to be a part of something that you can be proud of, even though Reservist Kim points out that he was, "a part of an organization that was underappreciated since our responsibilities are so minimal during peace time." Previously, Kim had a commitment of one weekend per month to his company stationed in Jersey City, NJ, and has endured active duty for two summers, including boot camp. Now, even though he is just as unsure as everyone when and where he will go, he says that he will do it and put everything behind it. So far, Operation Enduring Freedom has only employed the use of air power and Special Forces on the ground, and the results have been difficult to measure. Kim's unit still meets in Jersey City every month, and has not been drilling differently or changing routine in any way. There is a chain of command, Kim explains, "each person down the ladder tends to know as little possible. Our superiors don't know shit therefore we don't know shit."

Nonetheless, these two reservists take their duty very seriously, almost solemnly, "the others in the company are ready to go if we have to. We pray that the best happens to us, but it's our duty to go when we are called," says Kim confidently, "We have no choice about it, and we signed on the dotted line and swore in - it's our job. Some are enthusiastic, while others hope not to go, but if we do then we will all be just as passionate."

Luo has now joined the ROTC program because he is restless and knows he has something to offer. "I'm hoping to be somewhere more effective in the future, in case something does happen," he says, then sighs and continues, "I don't want to leave school, but I will go wherever, whenever called."

As time progresses, studies continue, and life goes by day by day. In President Bush's executive order to call Reservists into active duty, he says that they will not serve more than 24 months of consecutive active duty. That is a long time to postpone your education, but everyone knew that there is always a distant threat of war in the world, and that their lives' paths could be altered at anytime. The implications haven't gotten that far for Private Luo yet, "How has my life changed in the past few weeks? I've watched a lot of television, neglected a lot of school work, and I'm not eating as well, but basically, I've been trying to get my life back on course."

Both are attending classes as normal, but their minds are still sometimes haunted by the images of the planes crashing, and the chapter of their lives that it started. Although their role in defending their country hasn't become much clearer, they are getting used to living with a different mindset now just like everyone else. But for Kim and Luo, the thought of just putting their lives on hold is still very real.

Kim doesn't thing he'll be mobilized until this coming spring at the earliest, if that, "the thing is, soldiers get rotated in a six month cycle. So the threat of leaving for deployment would be in the next surge - sometime in spring. Until then I won't worry much."

Right now, they're just students, and don't know anything more than the average citizen about the course of the war, and are just trying to go about their normal lives. But Kim added that he had just been ordered to sign life insurance and mobilization papers and used the word scary for the fifth time in ten minutes.

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