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01/10/2005 Archived Entry: "Emiliano Santiago"

Thanks to Claire Wolfe for this item. "Last Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Owen M. Panner denied [Oregon Army National Guardsman Sgt. Emiliano] Santiago's motion for a preliminary injunction against having to report again for active duty?.A soldier with D Company of the Oregon Guard's 113th Aviation Battalion in Pendleton, he is and his unit are expected to be deployed to Afghanistan in February. Santiago argued that he already had completed his contracted term in 2002, but Panner's ruling means that he will have to go. And he is only one of thousands who are finding themselves back in uniform despite having honorably completed the service they signed on for." There is nothing new about stop-loss orders, extended duties, etc. but one sentence jumped out at me from the news account on Santiago. "He originally signed for an eight-year tour with the Guard in 1996, but as a result of the "stop-loss" back-door draft, his service has been extended to December 2031, when he would be 54." The military has extended his service for close to 26 years past the completion date of his contracted term? He is now 27 years old and may be required to service in the military until he is 54! I guess Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation didn't apply to the military.