Steve Buyer: “Mr. Speaker, by adopting this resolution today, we have an opportunity to recognize a pivotal event in the military…”

“Mr. Speaker, by adopting this resolution today, we have an opportunity to recognize a pivotal event in the military history of the United States. This August marks the 10th anniversary of the executive order signed by President Bush to call up the National Guard and the Reserve components in support of Operation Desert Shield. Mr. Speaker, the initial order was modest. Just 48,800 personnel were called to serve. But later that fall, following the decision to pursue an offensive option, the activation order was expanded to an additional 188,000 guardsmen and reservists. Mr. Speaker, it is during that later activation that I was also called to active duty. Like many of my colleagues, I had just 3 days' notice to report to active duty. Did activation entail many difficult personal and business decisions? Obviously. But I, along with thousands of others who have come before me. I, along with those thousands of others, were ready to make necessary sacrifices to meet the challenges of activation. I later served as an operational law judge advocate providing legal advice to forward-deployed Army combat service support units operating within the Persian Gulf theater of operations in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Kuwait. During my tenure in the Gulf, reservists and guardsmen quickly transitioned to the demands of their full-time military service. The active duty units quickly integrated us as part of the team.”