Iraq call-ups sap manpower back home

Paul Etnire feels the manpower pinch firsthand. As Arizona's only DPS recruiting officer, his own recent 16-month deployment to Iraq expanded his boss's workload. The department "is already stretched thin, and those who stay behind must pick up the slack," he says.

But even when call-ups don't create staffing problems, employers such as the City of Tucson have other concerns. Of 5,700 employees, only six are currently deployed. Yet the city fills the income gap if military pay falls short of their salaries. That costs about $40,000 a year, says Suzanne Machain, deputy director of human resources. Fortunately, the deployed workers are spread through various departments, so no single area is overly taxed.

Other public entities haven't fared as well. In Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, 12 employees from the local sheriff's department are on active duty. And 79 city employees have been called up since Sept. 11, 2001. Of those, approximately 70 percent are employed by the Phoenix Police Department.

As in Washington, maintaining adequate numbers of firefighters is a major concern. Guard members act as a reserve firefighting force, and their equipment - such as Black Hawk helicopters - were crucial in fighting the huge Rodeo-Chediski fire in 2002. Of greater concern are firefighters from local departments. When those people are deployed, "we lose firefighting expertise," says Ron Melcher, fire coordinator for the Arizona State Land Department.

Nor are the impacts limited to public agencies. Many businesses are feeling the strains, too - such as in the form of overtime payments to employees working expanded shifts. Small and mid-size companies have been hit particularly hard, Jeffrey Crowe, who sits on the board of the US Chamber of Commerce, told a congressional committee in June.

Still, military officials insist plenty of manpower remains, especially for emergencies. Maj. Eileen Bienz, a spokeswoman for the Arizona National Guard, says they "work closely with the governor's office" when deployments are scheduled. At the same time, many employers suffer the sacrifice willingly, she says, because Guard and Reserve members make excellent employees.

Still, call-ups hit home in many ways. Recently, the brother of one of Warden Flanagan's guards was killed in Iraq. Now the officer himself faces deployment in January. "There's more than just the impact of staffing," Flanagan says. "There's also an emotional impact, and it wears on all of us."

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