Resigned to rejection

Why do Army Reserve company officers hate America?

The Army Reserve faces an extreme shortage of company officers, a situation aggravated by a surge in resignation requests.

The shortage - primarily of captains - has seriously reduced the capabilities of the Reserve, and continued losses will further reduce the readiness of "an already depleted military force," according to an Army briefing document submitted last month to Congress.

Army Reserve resignation requests have jumped from 15 in 2001 to more than 370 during a 12-month period ending in September.

To preserve its leadership ranks, the Reserve increasingly has rejected resignation requests, forcing some officers to stay on even after they have fulfilled their initial eight-year service requirement.

The resignation requests are another sign of a military under strain during the protracted war in Iraq, where more than 40 percent of the U.S. forces are drawn from the ranks of Reserve and National Guard.

The shortage hit the Sioux Falls-based 323rd Chemical Company on its recent deployment to Iraq, said Sgt. 1st Class Rob Rieger of Huron.

"We mobilized with two officers, and we're supposed to have six," he said. The unit picked up officers from Seattle, Denver and Knoxville, Tenn., including a new commanding officer, at its mobilization site at Fort McCoy, Wis.