While MCN counsels US troops on a range of early discharge possibilities, case manager Tim Huber says that conscientious objection and hardship are currently the most prevalent choices: “These two discharges reflect an expansive array of problems with the military, including problems with the morality of the current war in Iraq, family issues, a dismissive attitude on the military's part towards post-traumatic stress disorder, and a general fed-upedness towards rotational deployments with no end in sight.”
Huber and MCN Director Michael J. Sharp face a daunting workload. Since the beginning of this year, they have handled roughly ten new soldier cases every month – a 30% increase over the numbers averaged in 2006.
Of course, the majority of US troops in Germany are not seeking early discharge. The military has become a way of life, and that can present challenges when they eventually return home and look for civilian work.
That’s where Sudie Nolan-Cassimatis comes in, a vibrant woman who teaches job-application skills to retiring service members. As part of the Department of Labor’s Transition Assistance Program, Nolan-Cassimatis travels across Germany to different military bases each week, coaching classes of 10-50 on the finer points of entering the US job market. Basics such as writing résumés and answering interview questions are covered in the course, but as Nolan-Cassimatis observes, “these things seem very straightforward to those of us who have never been in uniform, but don’t seem at all straightforward to folks who have spent their careers in the military.”
She’s clearly dedicated to her work: “Mostly, I am amazed and touched each week at the stories I hear from soldiers. Many of them have been deployed twice or more, even the soldiers who are only 22 years old, and they have a resilient spirit. They've given up multiple years of their lives. Many of them have kids that they've been away from for years at a time. I think it's only fair that they get a shot at a job on the outside.”
Nolan-Cassimatis knows firsthand about having a loved one serving in a war zone. Her husband Dimitri is currently in Baghdad working as a Squadron Surgeon.
Before deploying, Dimitri Cassimatis was a cardiologist at the sprawling Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC) in southwestern Germany. It is the largest American hospital outside of the US and the first stop for medical and psychiatric evacuees out of Iraq and Afghanistan.
C-17 cargo planes drop off the wounded day and night, and LRMC’s staff of 2,200 can handle 1000 beds in an emergency. A typical day at LRMC sees nine new acute cases.
On a recent visit to the facility, the Iraq war’s toll on US troops was brutally evident. A 23-year-old soldier, physically shattered and facing blindness, was among many battling for life in the Intensive Care Unit. Couldn't even see the newly-earned purple heart pinned to his pillow.
In the next ward, a fresh-faced young woman whose neck had been crushed during a bad fall. A 19-year-old nearby contemplating life with just one leg. Relentless stories of IED (improvised explosive device) attacks and sniper assaults; youth putting a brave face on lives torn apart and innocence lost.
The wounded at LRMC may be under the radar for most Germans, but debate continues over whether the US military presence there ultimately perpetuates the Bush administration’s wars. Just last week, a group of Iraq veterans and German peace activists demonstrated outside Katterbach Army Airfield in Bavaria, trying to convince active-duty soldiers preparing for a 15-month deployment to reconsider. As Adam Kokesh, a 25-year-old member of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper, "There is no military solution for Iraq. An army can only destroy." Kokesh and other US veterans were also trying to raise awareness about the struggle of those in the Bavarian town of Ansbach working to resist the expansion of a US military base there.
Advocates point out that Americans have lived peacefully in the country for decades, supporting the economy, contributing to communities and befriending locals.
But as Lori Hurlebaus of Courage to Resist notes, “Even if the German military was not involved in the invasion of Iraq, there is a military conducting a war of aggression from German soil.”
Action ideas:1. Read more about Agustín Aguayo's case (www.aguayodefense.org) and check out the site’s great links. Aguayo returned to California in May for a whirlwind speaking tour; invite him to speak in your city via the site.
2. Learn more about war resisters at Courage to Resist (www.couragetoresist.org).
3. Read more about early discharge possibilities at the Military Counseling Network (www.getting-out.de).
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