Army: Reservists Failed to Report on Time

By ROBERT BURNS
AP Military Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Army is getting a grudging response - or none at all - from hundreds of former soldiers it ordered back into uniform for duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, although none has been declared AWOL.

Army officials said Friday that 622 people, about one-third of the 1,765 Individual Ready Reserve members who were supposed to report for duty by Sept. 28, failed to show up. Some requested more time. Others wanted to be excused entirely. Some have not responded at all.

The no-show rate is approximately what the Army anticipated when it announced the call-up last June, and officials said Friday they believe some no-shows eventually will turn up.

That the Army has had to reach this deeply into its store of reserve soldiers is a measure of the strain the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns have put on the active-duty Army. When the U.S. invading force toppled Baghdad in April 2003, the Army thought it would be sending most of its soldiers home within months. Instead, it has kept 100,000 or more there ever since.

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