Dear Editor:
Today FoxNews reported a disturbing story that I felt should get more attention. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/05/29/soldier-killed-in-helicopter-crash-denied-arlington-cemetery-burial/?intcmp=latestnews.
On March 11 Staff Sergeant (SSG) Thomas Florich with the Louisiana National Guard was killed in a helicopter crash with several other service members while training in the Gulf. His family petitioned the U.S. Army for him to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, but SSG Florich's family was denied. The reason was because Arlington does not allow for reservists to be buried there if serving on "Active Duty for training only." One of the Marines that died that day alongside SSG Florich was allowed to be buried at Arlington however because he was considered "Active Duty."
If reading the above paragraph put a bad taste in your mouth, then you're not going to like this one neither. The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) of 1994 protects reservists full time employment when they are called up for Active Duty.
When a Reservist is called up, their job is held for them until they return home. USERRA is a good thing, but it doesn't extend to National Guard soldiers who are called up for State Emergency Duty (SED). That's right, USERRA will not protect a Guardsman called up for flood relief, disaster response, or civil unrest that happens in the United States.
That means a guardsman who gets the call to report to their nearest Armory for the next day to report for SED does so without knowing if they'll have a job when they come home, a burden which only the National Guard carries.
It's unfortunate that "Big-Army" defines what active duty service is when it comes to the National Guard. I'm sure SSG Florich didn't think that if he died while in the line of duty he wouldn't be considered equal to his counterparts simply because of a pay status. Our Guardsmen who respond to disasters with little to no notice deserve to know that when they get back they'll have their job waiting for them, because their peers outside the guard receive that benefit.
Why is it that state duty, whether it's tactical training in the Gulf of Mexico or riot control in Ferguson, is not considered "Active Duty" at the Pentagon?
Are Guardsmen's lives and livelihoods less valuable because of a pay code?
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