Fort Drum Calls Civilian Employees to Duty

FORT DRUM, N.Y. (AP) - Fort Drum's commanding general is asking all of its roughly 1,000 civilian employees to volunteer for duty in a war zone.

Major General Michael Oates sent out a request to civilian workers at the to northern New York post to deploy to Iraq.

In return, employees would receive their regular pay plus 70 percent of their base salaries.

Greg Ferguson, a civilian human resources director who himself deployed twice to Afghanistan, says employees might do the job they do at Fort Drum or something else they specialize in. He says that could include plumbing, construction, public affairs or even photojournalism.

Civilian employees have until mid-January to sign up. They can request when they deploy and how long they would stay there.

So far, only 10 have answered the call.