Reservists' Rocky Return To Job Market

60 Minutes Report Also Examines Costs Borne By Employers Of Deployed Citizen Soldiers

(CBS)  He says the government doesn't give his company any help, like tax breaks. "Nothing," he says. "We have gone and petitioned Congress to in fact provide tax incentives for companies to do the right thing for these citizen soldiers."

Congress' response? Miller says they are still discussing it.

A tax break to help very small businesses became law in June. But Miller says the costs to all companies will go up since the Pentagon has announced a new policy of calling up the National Guard and Reserves on a regular basis: every five years, even after the current wars are over.

"In using the Guard and the Reservists this way, in other words, for regular deployments, the charge is that you're just doing it to save money. And you're doing it on the back of these employers," Stahl remarks.

"I think it's the most appropriate use of America's forces. We have 2.6 million people under arms. 1.4 million are in the active duty. 1.2 are in the Guard and Reserve, 45 percent of the military. And what we do is we save money actually by that because a Guardsman/Reservist doesn't cost as much, and so I think it’s an appropriate use of the total force," Assistant Secretary of Defense Hall says.

But Con-way's Miller says, "If the Department of Defense is going to rely more heavily on reserve and guard, they should take into consideration that all they’re doing is shifting costs at that point in time. And there are those that probably won't accept that shifting graciously, at least silently. We won't accept it silently."

He and his fellow businessmen will have a hard time getting government help in this era of big deficits. The Pentagon is making other concessions, though: they're reducing the length of each deployment to just one year, and call-up notices are going out anywhere from six to 20 months in advance.

Secretary Hall, who recently visited reservists on duty in Kuwait, says he hears what the companies are saying, but his priority is the troops, and their job security. He expects the USERRA law to be enforced, which is why he made this astonishing offer.

"Let me make this commitment right on the air, if I could just for a moment. If there's any guardsman or reservist or family member that has a problem, call my office. Call me personally," he told Stahl. "My number is 703-697-6631. And I will ensure that I put a case worker on it. If necessary, I will call the head of the company or the agency personally. I don't just make that offer just precipitously. I mean that because we're concerned about it. My office will react, and I invite people, if they have a problem, tell me."