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St. Thomas Law Review

First Page

859

Document Type

Comment

Abstract

The call to arms has sounded! The militia awaits and the citizen-soldier must stop all his daily activities and chores. His industrial pursuits, projects, and presentations are only half done. There are bills that are unpaid; insurance, credit cards, car payments, house payments, and loan payments. What income will my family have to sustain them through the deployment? There are still so many chores left undone, the citizen-soldier thinks as he reaches for his equipment. Who will take care of my home? Will my family be fine? Can they manage? I hope so. There will be so much more to do when I get back! Will the house and everything else that I have worked so hard for be here and in order when I get back? Will I come back? These thoughts must have been very similar to the thoughts that crossed through the minds of thousands of activated reservists called to duty for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in August 1990, as it must have been very like the thoughts of the military men and women recently activated in response to the terrible attacks of September 11, 2001. Congress has taken amazing steps to protect the rights of the modem day militiaman. The employee-reservist may have a great deal on his mind upon deployment that cannot be laid to rest, regardless of legislation passed, but Congress has virtually assured him the retention of his job. The question then becomes; what happens to those pursuing objectives other than employment? Unfortunately, Congressional vision revealed some shortcomings. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the need for an expansion of the rights afforded to military reservists. In particular, legislation has failed to serve the special needs of the student-reservist. The legal protections, or the extent of those whom they protect, is insufficient in proportion to the increasing role of the reserves. The wake of the Persian Gulf Conflict has seen the role of the Reserve Component expand dramatically due to a downsizing of the military, increased global responsibility, increased operational tempo, and a commitment to the "Total Force" policy. This Comment will address the need to promote the rights afforded to the citizen-soldier-student. Currently, there is a void in legislation facilitating the studentreservist's obligation to fulfill his military duty. This may be due to the mythical viewpoint that reservists are weekend warriors who attend drill one weekend a month, and two weeks during the summer. This is no longer the case. The active component has been drastically reduced and forces have been spread thin. As a result, the reserves have stepped up to bat so that they may alleviate the active component's burden of deployment. These greater responsibilities are unpredictable and contrary to the "summer camp" view of the past. In light of the aforementioned, this paper will provide a comparative study of the reservist-employee's rights provided in the reemployment setting under the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act ("USERRA") and how similar legislation may apply to the student-in the context of an educational institution. This analysis will continue by analyzing the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") as a model vehicle to reasonably accommodate the reservist's duty while attending institutions of higher education. In addition, institutional rights or defenses to reasonable accommodations will be examined in an attempt to balance educational interests with the rights of the student-soldier and his proposed right to reasonable accommodations.

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