Perspective: Faced with a 3rd tour, Reservist says `I don't have the will to go back to war'

Denied.

It was the only word Drew Sleezer really heard when he got the phone call this week.

Sleezer, 22, who already had served two combat tours in Afghanistan, pleaded with the Army to allow him to continue with his college education rather than return to duty.

Instead, he has been ordered to ship out for Iraq June 3. He got the news Thursday.

The Darien man was 17 when he joined the Army, delighted by a $5,000 signing bonus and eager to fight in Afghanistan. It all looked so good: a chance to travel, to pay for college and to fight in a meaningful war after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

He made an eight-year commitment, with three years of active duty and the remainder as an inactive reservist. He said he was told the chances of his being called back after his discharge from active duty were remote.

But the ongoing involvement in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq have forced the military to dip deep into the reserve system.

Sleezer is one of 10,000 Individual Ready Reserve soldiers called back to active duty--most involuntarily, according to the Army--since Sept. 11, 2001. About 5,300 have appealed for exemptions and about half of those appeals have been granted.

For Sleezer, his new life is once again in jeopardy. For his family, a third deployment means months of torment, waiting for his return.

"I don't have the will to go back to war," Sleezer said. "I left that part of my life behind me."

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