They Don't Have to Walk, So Long As They Can Shoot

What do you when the Army is running out of soldiers to send (back) to war and having a time recruiting more? Send the wounded ones back to the front , obviously. This time-honored tradition, as old as war itself, is alive and well here as battalion commanders scrape the bottoms of their available barrels in an effort to meet deployment requirements. Why they'll eventually try to bring back the draft, after the jump.

Master Sgt. Denny Nelson was sent to Kuwait just after Christmas despite having so badly mangled his foot bouncing on his daughter's trampoline that he was ordered not to run, jump or carry twenty pounds until he was fully healed (which he's not). Physicians at both ends of his trip to Kuwait vehemently objected to his deployment in writing but his commander demurred until he got yelled at by the doctor on the ground and finally sent Nelson home after three weeks. Fifty-one other "no-go" soldiers, all based out of Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, were deployed with Nelson, who says that the only reason he was sent back because of his rank.

Commanders swear that injured soldiers deployed to the Middle East aren't actually patrolling or anything because they're on desk duty and stuff and, since everything is so safe now, they totally won't have to worry about running for cover or anything. Of course, when Nelson got to Kuwait to supervise the other guys who weren't really medically cleared and were supposed to be on desk duty, he found himself without a job because those dudes were already toting guns somewhere in Iraq. But, it's a surge, people! Sacrifices are required.

 Goals Met With Ailing GIs [Denver Post]