Marines Call 1,800 From Ready Reserve

The Marine Corps is recalling 1,800 reservists to active duty, citing a shortage of volunteers to fill some jobs in Iraq.

Members of the branch's Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) will receive letters this week about plans to mobilize them involuntarily for a year, said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Riehl of Marine manpower and reserve affairs.

Last week, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates approved the action, under which reservists would report for duty in October and deploy early next year, Riehl said.

From the 1,800 Marines called, officials hope to get 1,200 for aviation maintenance, logistics support, combat arms and other skills needed for the early 2008 rotation into Iraq.

The ready reserves are service members who have left active duty but still have time remaining on their eight-year military obligations. Generally, Marines enlist for four years, then serve another four in the regular reserves, where they are paid and train periodically, or in the IRR, in which they do not drill.

Last July, President Bush authorized the recall from the Marine IRR of up to 2,500 at one time. About 60,000 Marines are in the IRR, but the Corps has decided to exempt from call-up those who are in their first year or last year of reserve status. As a result, the pool of available Marines is about 25,000, said Maj. Steven O'Connor, a Corps spokesman.