There must be an easier way to get out of the Navy than walking by a moving train and sticking your arm out. That's the only reason The Hound can figure Brandon Garrison, a 20-year-old from Red Bluff, Calif., would then have his arm severed by a Metra train.
He could have filled out a "don't ask, don't tell" form. Or done a head case routine, the old Section 8 routine. Or, applied for conscientious-objector status.
Between 2002 and the end of 2006, the U.S. military received 425
applications from active-duty and part-time troops asking for
conscientious-objector status because their moral or religious beliefs
made them opposed to bearing arms. Of those, 224 were approved, 188 were denied and 13 were
pending or incomplete.
The active-duty Army received the most requests (181), followed by
the Marine Corps Reserves (50); Air Force (45); Marine Corps (43);
Army Reserve (36); Navy (31); Army National Guard (26); Air National
Guard (five); Air Force Reserve (four); Coast Guard (three); and Coast
Guard Reserve (one), according to the U.S. Government Accountability
Office.
So, Brandon could have spared himself a lot of pain and suffering. Instead, he's missing a limb, and most likely be missing the Navy once he's healed.
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