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Seven Marines left the University of Maine this semester when the Alpha Company of the 1st Battalion Marines, based in Topsham, was deployed. They were notified Jan 12 that they had been activated.
The Marines arrived at Camp Legeune, N.C. 12 days after their initial notification, according to Gunnery Sgt. Jeff Harren of the Topsham Reserve unit.
“It’s unknown what they’re going to be tasked with,” Harren said. They’ve received the one-year order and could be called to serve an additional year.
As of Jan. 29, it is estimated that 156,000 Americans have been ordered to deploy or have been alerted, according to GlobalSecurity.org. President Bush was clear in his State of the Union speech, “If Saddam Hussein does not fully disarm … we will lead a coalition to disarm him.”
Here in Maine, only the Marines have been called to active duty.
According to Maj. Peter Rogers, the director of Public Affairs for the Maine National Guard, the regular rotations of the Air Traffic Control Unit have been sent to Bosnia, but, “we haven’t had any mobilization orders,” he added.
The Army ROTC on campus has about 35 recent graduates of whom are 23 on active duty Lt. Colonel Charles Forshee said. The ROTC cadets will finish their training and graduate before they are commissioned, according to Forshee, unless Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld orders a full mobilization, which hasn’t happened since World War II.
Jan Williams, assistant director of Student Records, is unable to release the names of the students who left. There were two sophomores, three juniors and two seniors.
“It’s almost certain there were other students in this situation that we don’t know about,” said Joe Carr, UMaine spokesman. Student Records only knows if a student was receiving veterans’ benefits for their service in the National Guard or Reserves prior to canceling their registration.
Depending on when in the semester students are called to duty they have three options: They can completely withdraw with no penalty towards their grade point average and a full refund; receive full credit at the grade earned so far if the semester is 75 percent complete or more (at the discretion of the professor); or receive an incomplete with one full year from the end of the semester to make up the work.
Keith Turner, a junior political science major and member of the Navy ROTC, has mixed feelings about remaining on campus for now. One of his fellow ROTC cadets was also a member of the Marine Core Reserves and left with ACO1/25.
“I would love to be out there serving but I know that I can’t be. We just haven’t been trained,” he said.
