The Hanscom Family Weblog

I was in the IRR for many, many years, and this was a nightmare of mine.

Lisa Pagan is shown with her husband, Travis, right, and her children Elizabeth, 4, and Eric, 3, at their home in Davidson, N.C., Friday, Feb. 27, 2009. After spending more than a year fighting her recall to active duty, the mother of two has to decide by March 1 whether to deploy to Iraq and abandon her family — a move that would create financial chaos — or refuse to go and possibly face charges. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

By MARTHA WAGGONER, Associated Press Writer
1 hr 27 mins ago

RALEIGH, N.C. – A North Carolina mother who reported for Army duty with her two young children because she said she has no one to care for them was scheduled to meet Monday with her commanders.

Attorney Mark Waple said Lisa Pagan took her children with her to the meeting at Fort Benning, Ga. “Right now, we’re just in a holding pattern,” he said.

Pagan was recalled to the Army four years after being honorably discharged, which is allowed under the military’s “individual ready reserve” program.

Soldiers can appeal, and some have won permission to remain in civilian life. Pagan filed several appeals, arguing that because her husband travels for business, no one else can take care of her kids. Her appeals were rejected.

Waple said he didn’t know if Pagan’s case would be resolved Monday, but said the meeting “will be the next step toward some kind of resolution.”

Fort Benning spokesman Bob Purtiman said Pagan reported to the Army post’s mobilization center that prepares individual soldiers to plug into Army units already overseas or those training to deploy. He did not know how long she was scheduled to stay at Fort Benning.

“She’s just passing through on her way to be deployed,” Purtiman said. “She’s here and she’s going to process in. The command’s looking at a range of options available to have resolution of her situation.”

Purtiman said he didn’t yet know what range of options commanders were considering. He said Fort Benning has day care services available for Pagan’s children while she’s there.
“There will be some resolution over the next couple of days about some temporary arrangements to help care for the kids while this affair is ironed out,” Waple said.

Pagan is among thousands of former service members recalled after leaving duty since the Sept. 11 attacks because they’re on “individual ready reserve” status, meaning they have time left on their original enlistment contracts and can be recalled at any time.

Master Sgt. Keith O’Donnell, an Army spokesman in St. Louis, has said that of the 25,000 individual ready reserve troops recalled since September 2001, more than 7,500 have been granted deferments or exemptions.

About 1,000 have failed to report, and most of those cases are still under investigation, he said. Another 360 soldiers have been separated from the Army either through “other than honorable” discharges or general discharges.

O’Donnell said Pagan isn’t likely to face charges, since none of the individual ready reserve soldiers who have failed to report faced a court-martial.
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Associated Press writer Russ Bynum in Savannah, Ga., contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press.