MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
JEFFERSON CITY - For several Missouri lawmakers, the possibility of war in Iraq has a special meaning -- for they are military reservists who are subject to be called up at any time.
Sen. Jon Dolan, R-St. Louis County, is an officer who commands the 70th Mobile Public Affairs Detatchment for the Missouri National Guard.
Dolan said if he were called, he would happily postpone his duty as a Senator to serve.
"I took two oaths and that one would be more important at this time than being a senator. So I would leave and my staff and fellow representives and other senators would pick up the slack. And the country would be better for it," Dolan said.
If Dolan is activated it would not be the first time an elected official would have been activated to serve during wartime.
During the war in Afghanistan, Missouri's Secretary of State, Matt Blunt, was called up to active duty in the Navy. He spent six months overseas before returning full-time to his Missouri governmental job.
Being sent overseas is not a new experience for Dolan either. His unit was activated for the Olympics and to serve in Bosnia. He said he is certain his unit will be called sometime in the next year.
"When called upon we will be ready to serve and join the 2,200 other Missourians already on their way to battle," Dolan said.
Rep. Jim Avery, R-St. Louis County is a reservist in the National Guard at Whiteman Air Force base, and a former active duty Marine.
Both legislators said there is much talk of being activated, but no official word in response to the coming war with Iraq.
"I don't think we have any plans of deploying but you never know," Avery said.
"Pretty much in National Guard, they could call you up and give you about a week's notice and you could be ready to go," he said.
Rep. Jason Brown, R-Platte City, an Army Reservist whose unit was sent to Bosnia in 1998, said although his unit is very likely to be deployed to Iraq at some point, it does not affect focus on his current responsibility as a representative.
"The call could come in a year, a month, or a week," Brown said.
"You have to focus on what you're doing. I am not one to sit around and worry about what if's," he said.
Despite the possibility for them to be activated, all three legislators support a war with Iraq.
"The sooner the better," Dolan said. "I am tied to a culture that defends and protects the constitution and I believe its under attack," he said.
The lawmakers also expressed confidence that their constituents would understand their absence if it were necessary for them to be deployed with their unit.
"They elected me knowing that I was in the National Guard. I don't think anybody would be upset if I had to go serve my country and state," Avery said.
When Brown was deployed to Bosnia, he was working as a public works director in his district. Because this was not en elected position, a replacement was hired.
In this situation, he said he would rely on other representatives from his district to represent his constituents.
"I would hope and trust the people I represent in my district would understand and realize I've got a job," Brown said.