In 1946, Congress created the Board for Correction of Naval Records as a means for Sailors and Marines to correct injustices in their military records, which impact future jobs and retirement benefits.

In November, nearly 3,000 Sailors, who were still under contract with the United States Navy, were informed that their services were no longer required by their country - more precisely by the organization/corporation acting on behalf of their country. These sailors are still in shock over the news from the Enlistment Retention Board and the stigma attached with the perception that something was wrong with their performance. Despite recent re-enlistments, many sailors with 7 to 15 years of service will be denied the chance to fulfill their dreams of a career in the Navy. Many will be denied the option to serve out their current contracts. They are simply being "let go" or downsized.

Many sailors have stated they do not fit the stated criteria outlined by the ERB. Sailors Against ERB and Navy ERB Sailors are two Facebook pages are dedicated helping sailors and their families not only cope with this decision, but to fight for the right to retire as planned or have their records restored.

Sailors Against ERB urges:

There are THREE things that EVERY ERB sailor must do ASAP!
1. Write both your senators & US Representative.
2. File a BCNR. 3. File an IG grievance.
If you have any questions on how to do any these or if you want a template to get you started on writing your congressmen, write me at sailorsagainsterb@yahoo.com.

Many news outlets are eager to speak with ERB sailors or their families. Check with your local newspaper or television news anchor to see if there is any interest in covering your story.

• Why does the Navy no longer need the service of the skilled men and women who have faithfully served their country for at least 7 years? 
• Why was this method chosen to downsize the Navy, rather than seeking volunteers at any level in the over-manned rates? 
• Why not allow these sailors the option to retire early? 
• Where is the money that was being set aside to cover the pensions of these sailors?
• Why does the Navy not make it clear that those who must leave involuntarily are not trouble-makers or miscreants?

Do you think online petitions don't work?

In 2007 Snopes debunked the idea that online petitions were worth the time it took to forward an email.

A misdirected petition is of no more use than an undirected one - though the voices it contains may be shouting, they won't be heard.

According to Snopes.com, the average e-petition isn't worth the pixels used to create it, but stated the popularity of online petitions comes from the instant sense of relief for people who otherwise feel helpless to impact the world or its policy makers.

A popular online petition site is change.org. It addresses concerns about the validity and potency of online petitions this way:

...what if you started to receive emails from each of your neighbors asking you to mow your lawn more often? Or, what if your company received thousands of emails from valued customers asking you to use a different supplier for your parts? How quickly would you act? That’s the unique thing about creating an online petition on Change.org: when you specify an email address for your target, each time a supporter signs your petition, an email is automatically sent directly to that person. Governments, companies and individuals value their reputations and feel accountable to their neighbors, constituents and customers. When hundreds or even thousands of emails arrive in their inboxes, the message is very hard to ignore.

iPetitions.com states:

Online petitions can be a very effective way of gathering support for a cause you care about and drawing attention to that cause. Many of our petition hosts have gathered tens and even hundreds of thousands of signatures on their petitions—petition recipients have had to stand up and take notice! To be truly effective in creating change, however, you need to be actively involved in promoting your petition.

Both sites emphasize the need for the petitioner to move beyond creating the document. If the petition is not promoted and promoted and promoted, it truly is worth no more than the pixels from which it came. Email, social networks and word of mouth are all necessary to make a petition take precedence when the emails do reach the inbox of the person working on behalf of the organization targeted for action. The sites also stress the importance of reaching out to officials through personal emails and even postal mail - yes, the old fashioned kind of mail that is written on paper and sent through the USPS inside an envelope, paid for with a postage stamp. Phone calls are also effective. If you wish to reach someone and draw attention to your concern, don't stop until you have exhausted all of your options.

The beauty of online petitions is that sometimes, the media picks up on these issues and runs a story. Sometimes, the media runs a story that leads to the petition. Often, if the issue affects enough people, these events run simultaneously.

Such is the case with the United States Navy and its enlisted personnel. Media knows, the sailors know and now, thanks to online petitioning and social networking, many more civilians know that during the final months of 2011,  two enlisted retention boards evaluated nearly 15,386 sailors ranked E-4 through E-8, who have served between seven and 15 years in 31 overmanned ratings. The week after Thanksgiving, 2,947 sailors learned they will be involuntarily separated from the Navy on Sept. 1, 2012.

Some have resigned themselves to finishing out their broken contracts, but many are outraged. They had planned their lives around retiring from the Navy after serving 20 years. Some bought homes after their most recent re-enlistments, certain they would retire and settle down in their current locations and expecting to receive military pensions and continued benefits for life. Instead, during the height of the holiday season, they discovered they have until the end of August to adjust to the idea of being a civilian , through the summer to attend classes and transition to a new way of life - and look for employment.

Sailors Against ERB is a Facebook community page that decided to create petitions online at change.org and on the WhiteHouse.gov site, hoping to impact the policy makers at what sailors call "Big Navy" and within our government. The group is taking the petitions straight to the Commander in Chief. The group is also encouraging the thousand or so members to share the word, spread the word, and talk the words to their families, friends, colleagues and elected officials. It even has links to the House of Representatives and Congress, as do I in a previous post.

Whether or not you believe in the cause of Sailors Against ERB, whether or not you believe in the power of online petitions and whether or not you decide to sign a petition, I urge you to find that within you that makes you want to take action and do so. Find a cause worth supporting and support it with all your being. Seek out that which brings you joy or riles you. Take steps to spread the joy or soothe the anger. Do something. Let people know where you stand. If you're not sure, come stand beside me. I tend to get things done!


  

Sailors Deserve Better!

People join the military for many reasons. Some join for a sense of family; others, for a sense of belonging to something larger than themselves. They have said they wanted experience, while some hoped to travel. Expectant young fathers have wrestled for years over which is most important: marriage vows or military oaths. Years ago, the military was an option for troubled young men told by families or authorities they needed discipline. For generations, people have run to the service to get away from something, searching for something.

My father was drafted into service at the height of World War II and served a single four-year term. He had no interest in making the Army Air Corps his career. Fortunate that he never had to serve in the trenches, he felt he could provide for his family better as a civilian.

A little more than twenty years later, the United States Marine Corps drafted my oldest brother, who went from Parris Island to Vietnam. He finished his second term in North Carolina, then decided he didn't want to reenlist.

My youngest brother, who was born nineteen years after the Marine * yes, my parents populated the entire boomer generation* enlisted into the National Guard before deciding to make the military his way of life. He joined the Navy full time and retired after twenty years. My sister's husband also retired from the Navy. Numerous cousins also retired from military careers.

The next generation in my family has its share of military personnel, covering nearly every branch. Enlisting into service, they swore oaths and signed documents promising and expecting certain things from the contract. Sailors, as all military personnel, make many sacrifices and their families sacrifice much, to support their sailors. In November, more than 15,000 sailors and their families are outraged when they learned from the Enlisted Retention Board that they are being "involuntarily separated from the United States Navy."

Emily Anelli, a Proud Navy Wife insists It's not over for her sailor. She asks,

Why is it 2,947 sailors serving more than 7 and less than 15 years are suddenly being pushed out?

She's not the first Navy Wife to complain that her husband, halfway to retirement, is being denied that for which he has dutifully and faithfully sacrificed and proudly served.

I agree with Mrs. Anelli when she pleads:

It is only fair to let the 2,947 sailors finish their contracts. Honor the benefits they have worked so hard for, respect the work they have done and uphold the contract between the government and these sailors.

Mrs. Anelli states that her husband was approved for reenlistment December 2010 with a ceremony in January 2011. A year later, he learned that his service is no longer required. What changed? Why is it that the government suddenly finds him redundant? Why not allow him to complete his contract? If he had decided to opt out of his end of the contract he might be considered AWOL.

Can't we hold the government to the same standards to which it expects its personnel?  If the military chooses to dismiss members in the same way a corporation might dismiss employees during a downsize, what recourse do those members have when a contract is broken?

Our sailors deserve better. Let those who want to retire, do so. Give them their benefits, not a severance slip.