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Editorial: Uncle Sam could help our reservists The (Tacoma) News Tribune March 18 The war on terror - now escalated by the impending war on Iraq - has been marked by a striking disparity of sacrifice. Men and women in uniform have been asked to put their lives on hold and sometimes at risk; little or nothing has been asked of other Americans. Reservists in many cases experience the most dramatic disruptions. Active duty personnel are already engaged in full-time military service; reserve and National Guard personnel, in contrast, are yanked right out of their civilian jobs. The contribution of these citizen soldiers is critical. More than a third of all Air Force fighter sorties, for example, are now flown by reservists. The Army's water supply battalions - important in Iraq - are all reserve units. Nearly 190,000 American reservists have now been called up, about 3,000 Washingtonians among them. Hundreds are from units based in the South Sound. As The News Tribune's Barbara Clements reported Sunday, those call-ups have a big impact not only on the reservists themselves, but on their employers. Federal law requires employers to excuse reservists for training and active duty, and to give them their old jobs or equivalent positions when they return. They cannot be penalized for serving: By law, they cannot be deprived of seniority, pension or insurance benefits as a result of their absences. But many companies, especially larger corporations, go far beyond what the law requires. They pay reservists on active duty the difference between their civilian and military salaries, so they suffer no loss of income for serving their country. Often, continued health insurance for the family is part of the deal. There's no profit in paying an employee who is off serving in uniform; this represents a genuine sacrifice on the part of these companies. Not all reservists are so lucky, of course. Given the personal price reservists pay to serve, the nation ought to do more to ease their transition from civilian to full-time military status. A reasonably priced stopgap medical insurance plan would help, as would mobilization insurance to protect families against sudden income losses. There are also employers who could - but don't - cover the pay differential when their workers are called up. One of them, surprisingly enough, is the U.S. government, whose civil service employees must forfeit their civilian salaries when they go active. Uncle Sam could surely be more generous than that. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -