What is considered active duty?? We have a customer who is full time National Guard and has been activated to Iraq. If in this case he is afforded the SSA relief, where does that put the career military who have activated to Iraq???

Section 101 - Definitions

(2)(A)(ii) in the case of a member of the National Guard, includes service under a call to active service authorized by the President or the Secretary of Defense for a period of more than 30 consecutive days under section 502(f) of title 32, USC, for purposes of responding to a national emergency declared by the President and supported by Federal funds.

I contend that the deployment of full-time Ntl Guard troops oversees falls under this definition. As for career military - deployment oversees doesn't matter. While they are afforded certain rights under SCRA, any debt incurred during military service doesn't fall under section 207.

I'm not a lawyer, although I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night.

How is the full time National Guard person's income affected by a deployment to Iraq? I don't think there is a change in income, and I would not think that Soldiers and Sailors Act would apply. Now something that required the person's presence (lawsuit, etc) might require a hold being placed on the action till the person returns for active duty. Also, I think the full time person is considered on active duty since they became full timee. Just my opinion.

While a person may be a full time Ntl Guard member, that does not mean they are on active duty. You need to look at Section 101(d)(1) of title 10 U.S.C. to get a clearer definition of active duty.

(d) Duty Status. -

The following definitions relating to duty status apply in this title:

(1)

The term ''active duty'' means full-time duty in the active military service of the United States. Such term includes full-time training duty, annual training duty, and attendance, while in the active military service, at a school designated as a service school by law or by the Secretary of the military department concerned. Such term does not include full-time National Guard duty.

In the Act itself, 101(2)(A)(ii), it describes the NG when they are called up. This person is already called up and doing it full time. It would vary if they were reassigned and in effect called up under Title 10 or 32. If they had a status change in this, SCRA would apply because of Sect. 101 or 106, which is where this is defined.

If your customer is full time National Guard and he was simply assigned to Iraq, his employment, income and status did not change. What orders were provided to you and do they specify a "call up" or a duty assignment?

Like active duty military who are assigned overseas, they may gain protections on leases and spousal coverage because of the deployment, but the key protection bankers focus on, the 6% rate, is not invoked, in my opinion. There may be fine nuances here that require reviewing, however.

Something that might help with this discussion. The National Guard is the milita of one of the several states, such as the Kansas National Guard or the Missouri Air National Guard. It is not part of the military of the United State until it is called to active duty. A person who is full time National Guard, is an employee of the state, such as the State of Kansas or the State of Missouri. An example a hardship that could be caused by a called to active duty for a full time member of the National Guard is a person who is a commissioned officer in the National Guard, who has not obtained his/her Federal commission. Upon call to active duty he/she may loose his/her rank and thus take a cut in pay. I would say that the Service Members Civil Relief Act applies to any full time member of the National Guard or Air National Guard that has been called to active duty just as it would to any other state employee called to active duty.