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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Eileen Kelley

Aired January 04, 2004 - 08:13   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: The war on terror is forcing citizen soldiers to make tough choices. And more and more, they're opting to be citizens and be safe. That is starting to put a crimp in the U.S. Army Reserves. Here to discuss the declining retention rate in the Army Reserves is Eileen Kelley of "The Denver Post." She comes to us from Colorado Springs.
Eileen, thanks for joining us today. I understand you've worked on a number of articles about the Reserves. Now, these are people who basically signed up for one month -- or one weekend a month and two weeks a year, but they're getting much more than that, 12 to 18 months in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, other war zones.

EILEEN KELLEY, DENVER POST: Yes, they are. Actually, for many people their deployments are now 18 to 24 months.

CALLEBS: So what are you hearing from these people? Clearly this isn't what they had in mind when they signed up?

KELLEY: Well, that's exactly it. I'm hearing both sides, though. There are some people that are in it for patriotic reasons and also for pragmatic reasons, that they really don't have a choice. They need that extra income. And then there are others who left active duty and decided to go into the guard to continue to work towards their career and their retirement, but are finding that the 18- to 24-month-long deployment is a hardship that they just didn't expect as a member of the citizen soldiers group.

CALLEBS: I imagine you've heard some real horror stories about marriages that have dissolved, families that have been torn apart, and professionals who have seen big setbacks in their careers.

KELLEY: Yes, there's a lot of that happening. I actually spoke last night with a soldier who just came back. He is on the active duty side, but his wife was with the Colorado National Guard. And they both were deployed, and both of them last night said that they expect about 20 percent of the people currently over in Iraq to re- enlist. That to be in an area with that much stress under that length of time has been just too difficult.

CALLEBS: And for the Reserves, it is only going to get worse. Right now they make up about 20 percent of the troops there. And as I understand it...

KELLEY: Yes, they do.

CALLEBS: ... they're going to make up about 40 percent in the coming year.

KELLEY: That is what I'm being told right now. It obviously can change any day now. But that is what I was told for a recent story that I reported on.

CALLEBS: Now, the actives are having very little trouble meeting their recruitment goals, but what is it like for the Reserves and what could the long-term effect of this be?

KELLEY: Well, I think the key is to -- right now, Army retention, they missed their goal by 7.6 percent for the fiscal year that just ended on September 30. I think the key is coming back a year and a half from now, when the troops that are going over there right now, to see if they're going to stay. Current stop loss orders are keeping several thousands of people from getting out of the military.

CALLEBS: Just very tough. And your heart has to go out to a lot of these people.

KELLEY: Of course. When many people enlisted, they didn't expect to be anything more than citizen soldiers, particularly those that enlisted 20, 30 years ago. The chances of being deployed was fairly nonexistent. At this point, the chances of going are higher than not going. Eighteen to 24 months away from a family, away from your stable income. Children are -- tend to be very isolated if you're not living at an Army post, which is what you're not going to find on the National Guard and Reserve side. It is a different world and it is not what they expected.

CALLEBS: Eileen Kelley with "The Denver Post," thanks very much. And if you get a chance to read these articles, they are very good, so people can presumably check the Web out and look at them there.

KELLEY: Great. Thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired January 4, 2004 - 08:13   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: The war on terror is forcing citizen soldiers to make tough choices. And more and more, they're opting to be citizens and be safe. That is starting to put a crimp in the U.S. Army Reserves. Here to discuss the declining retention rate in the Army Reserves is Eileen Kelley of "The Denver Post." She comes to us from Colorado Springs.
Eileen, thanks for joining us today. I understand you've worked on a number of articles about the Reserves. Now, these are people who basically signed up for one month -- or one weekend a month and two weeks a year, but they're getting much more than that, 12 to 18 months in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, other war zones.

EILEEN KELLEY, DENVER POST: Yes, they are. Actually, for many people their deployments are now 18 to 24 months.

CALLEBS: So what are you hearing from these people? Clearly this isn't what they had in mind when they signed up?

KELLEY: Well, that's exactly it. I'm hearing both sides, though. There are some people that are in it for patriotic reasons and also for pragmatic reasons, that they really don't have a choice. They need that extra income. And then there are others who left active duty and decided to go into the guard to continue to work towards their career and their retirement, but are finding that the 18- to 24-month-long deployment is a hardship that they just didn't expect as a member of the citizen soldiers group.

CALLEBS: I imagine you've heard some real horror stories about marriages that have dissolved, families that have been torn apart, and professionals who have seen big setbacks in their careers.

KELLEY: Yes, there's a lot of that happening. I actually spoke last night with a soldier who just came back. He is on the active duty side, but his wife was with the Colorado National Guard. And they both were deployed, and both of them last night said that they expect about 20 percent of the people currently over in Iraq to re- enlist. That to be in an area with that much stress under that length of time has been just too difficult.

CALLEBS: And for the Reserves, it is only going to get worse. Right now they make up about 20 percent of the troops there. And as I understand it...

KELLEY: Yes, they do.

CALLEBS: ... they're going to make up about 40 percent in the coming year.

KELLEY: That is what I'm being told right now. It obviously can change any day now. But that is what I was told for a recent story that I reported on.

CALLEBS: Now, the actives are having very little trouble meeting their recruitment goals, but what is it like for the Reserves and what could the long-term effect of this be?

KELLEY: Well, I think the key is to -- right now, Army retention, they missed their goal by 7.6 percent for the fiscal year that just ended on September 30. I think the key is coming back a year and a half from now, when the troops that are going over there right now, to see if they're going to stay. Current stop loss orders are keeping several thousands of people from getting out of the military.

CALLEBS: Just very tough. And your heart has to go out to a lot of these people.

KELLEY: Of course. When many people enlisted, they didn't expect to be anything more than citizen soldiers, particularly those that enlisted 20, 30 years ago. The chances of being deployed was fairly nonexistent. At this point, the chances of going are higher than not going. Eighteen to 24 months away from a family, away from your stable income. Children are -- tend to be very isolated if you're not living at an Army post, which is what you're not going to find on the National Guard and Reserve side. It is a different world and it is not what they expected.

CALLEBS: Eileen Kelley with "The Denver Post," thanks very much. And if you get a chance to read these articles, they are very good, so people can presumably check the Web out and look at them there.

KELLEY: Great. Thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com