CNMI reservists are being called to active duty and will be deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan beginning this week, according to Gov. Juan N. Babauta.<\/p>\n
This comes soon after the Pentagon announced last week the involuntary call-up of inactive personnel to reinforce depleted missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
Babauta said the local Army Reserve has in fact been notified for such deployment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe [Army Reserve] company commander [Franklin Babauta] informed me that his unit has been notified [for deployment],\u201d said the governor.<\/p>\n
Babauta said about 83 CNMI reservists, including 30 police officers, would be deployed beginning this week.<\/p>\n
A government source, meantime, said that about 40 ambulatory technicians and fire personnel from the Department of Public Safety are on the list for deployment.<\/p>\n
The source added that the deployment of the local troop would be done within 30 days.<\/p>\n
Reports said that on Guam about 150 reservists have been alerted for deployment to Iraq. <\/p>\n
In Hawaii, the military announced that more than 75 percent of the state\u2019s Army National Guard has been put on alert.<\/p>\n
News reports also indicated that American Samoa\u2019s 600 personnel\u2014out of 650\u2014have received alert status. <\/p>\n
Babauta, in an interview, said the deployment of DPS personnel \u201cis a very great concern\u201d since the local enforcement unit has long been lacking in staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very concerned due to its great impact on the delivery of public service of DPS. The department is already shorthanded,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Babauta said the deployment has no specified duration date, but normally such assignment takes 15 or 18 months to two years.<\/p>\n
Babauta said reservists\u2019 families have been \u201cheartbroken\u201d by the news. \u201cBut I commend and salute our men and women in uniform for keeping the nation safe and helping other nations achieve democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCloser to home, I want to thank the families for their support. Our prayer is for everybody,\u201d said the governor.<\/p>\n
Babauta said he has instructed DPS commissioner Ed Camacho to come up with a strategy plan on how to address the personnel situation in the department. \u201cI\u2019ve directed him to submit a plan of action to ensure public safety and protection in view of this development.\u201d<\/p>\n
As early as last year, U.S. military officials had cautioned of an exodus of active and reserve forces if the U.S. is unable to recruit international troops or prevent continued violence in Iraq.<\/p>\n
Pentagon\u2019s announcement last week was reportedly \u201cthe latest signs of the strain on the U.S. Armed Forces that has about 155,000 service men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
This even as the U.S. and its allied forces handed over sovereignty to Iraq last week. <\/p>\n
CNMI Army Reserve commander Franklin Babauta, when reached yesterday, declined to provide details on the issue, saying he has yet to get specific instructions from higher authorities.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been talking to Hawaii. Our area here needs to get more information. As soon as we receive it, we\u2019ll provide it to the media. We owe it to the public to reveal what\u2019s happening,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
A government source said Army Reserve\u2019s Babauta has met with the local troop Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s part of our preparation. We\u2019ve been preparing for this ever since,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said his unit will issue a public statement on the issue no later than tomorrow. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CNMI reservists are being called to active duty and will be deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan beginning this week, according to Gov. Juan N. Babauta.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82365\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}