Read on Twitter
This is a piece of a broader problem known as “duty status reform” within the military manpower community. 1/ https://twitter.com/attackerman/status/1246424109623492608
A “duty status” is determined by the section of state or federal law under which a reservist is serving. See, e.g., 32 USC 502 ( https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/32/502) or 10 USC 12302 ( https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/12302) 2/
There are ~ 30 duty statuses under state and federal law, as recently catalogued by DoD’s Reserve Forces Policy Board (on which I used to serve) 3/ https://rfpb.defense.gov/Portals/67/Documents/Improving%20the%20Total%20Force%20using%20the%20National%20Guard%20and%20Reserves_1%20November%202016.pdf?ver=2016-11-17-142718-243
Whether a service member (or dependent) qualifies for benefits (like TRICARE, VA health care, or the #GIBill) depends on the interaction between these duty status authorities and the benefits eligibility authorities like 38 USC 101 4/ https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/38/101
Previously, the example most cited in the DSR discussion has been an aircraft that goes down with personnel of different duty statuses on board, leading to unequal benefits for the deceased and their families. (This case has happened in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere.) 5/
This “duty status” issue is also the reason why reserve Marines didn’t get #GIBill benefits for Honduras deployments years ago, albeit under a different mobilization authority for pre-planned COCOM-support missions. https://www.stripes.com/news/pentagon-holds-gi-bill-benefits-for-reservists-1.441208 via @AlexHortonTX 6/
This reporting re: Guard orders and TRICARE coverage adds another important example to the debate over “duty status reform.” 7/ https://www.militarytimes.com/news/coronavirus/2020/04/02/guard-mobilization-periods-are-falling-one-day-short-of-earning-troops-full-benefits-including-medical/ via @haltman
Congress and DoD have done tremendous work to develop a new duty status framework, and identify the >400 (!!) statutes (+ many more regs) requiring change to fix the issue. https://armedservices.house.gov/2019/3/reserve-component-duty-status-reform 8/
But, for myriad reasons, this work has been slow, and Congress has not yet moved to codify these reforms across the board. I agree with @ArnoldLPunaro — duty status reform is “long overdue.” Maybe #COVIDー19 will provide the push to get it done. 9/9 https://twitter.com/arnoldlpunaro/status/1246431881853313026?s=21 https://twitter.com/arnoldlpunaro/status/1246431881853313026
