All kiding aside, you can't be in active or reserve duty role today and not know that you are a candidate for IA assignment. Deciding to second-guess your assignment when your number is up sure does cast a lot of doubt on her argument/credibility.
This is absolutely true, and is also a reason why I predict the mid- to long-term viability of the Navy Reserve construct is in jeopardy. Reservists (as well as AC folks) know IAs are here to stay, and have to keep that bogey continually in their sights. The downside is that the "operationalization" of the Reserves that has occurred since OIF is (IMHO) inconsistent with the expectations most Reservists have - namely, that a full mobilization, with subsequent deployment to combat, was a "once in a career" occurrence. The new mindset of "1 in 4" for Reservists is essentially unsupportable, at least for most professionals. I predict that employers will start screaming "uncle" in the not too distant future when 2nd and subsequent Reservist involuntary mobilizations start happening. How can you expect to have a career in that sort of set up? The short answer is "you can't", and I believe Reservists will begin rapidly voting with their feet. The first wave of this has already begun - the RC is seeing very few new affiliations from folks (O & E) coming off active duty, which was traditionally a significant source of manpower. This is because the AC guys know the calculus far better than Joe Off the Street looking to enlist directly in the Reserves. You thought the T-notch was bad? Wait for a few more years in the 96-2002 YGs.
I'll use myself as an example: having been mobilized twice in the last 2.5 years (albeit for short tours) and having done an ADSW deployment that should have been a mob, I can't do any more. The fact that I'll be getting out of my current high OPTEMPO billet shortly will help things somewhat, especially since I will have "mobilization stink" on me for a period of time that will shelter me from involuntary mobilizations. However, once that time period is up I have to give serious consideration to getting out entirely - like I suspect the LT in question should have. I like the Navy and I like the jobs I've had a lot, but my career and family are red-lined. Once I lose their backing, I have some hard choices to make. Sad but true.
The AF is starting to put their foot down with respect to these assignments; they call them ILO (in lieu of), rather than IA. Last Fall the Chief of Staff essentially said "we're done". Short summary and a link are below:
http://www.afa.org/magazine/march2008/0308ilo.asp
In a nutshell, Moseley says they will fill billets that are job-related to AF skills, but will zero out the support otherwise.
