Congressman Scott Rigell saw NewsChannel 3's stories about the struggles of sailors fired by the Enlisted Retention Board and wanted to take action.
“On a Thursday afternoon, we met up with him at 4 p.m., and had a round-table meeting with six other sailors,” said Tony Caudill, one of the ERB sailors that first came forward to NewsChannel 3 about the struggle to find a job after the Navy tossed them with no explanation.
“That’s probably the biggest question on all our minds: Why? Why us?” said Caudill.
The former sailor got to bring those concerns straight to the Congressman, who in turn wrote a letter to the Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert, asking for the ERB sailors to get their jobs back.
After Rigell sent the letter Thursday morning, he shared it only with NewsChannel 3.
Click here to read Rigell's letter
“Especially with the news of 8,600 sailors the Navy wants to hire over next several years, and here you cut 3,000 good sailors? Why not give these guys the first opportunity to come back? I would, I would sign on the dotted line today and go back to active duty,” said Caudill.
Rigell argues in his letter that hiring these ERB sailors would save the Navy money and resources on basic training for new sailors.
Since these ERB sailors are experienced, they can add "immediate value as the Navy expands warfare areas.”
“I can finish what I started, I invested 14 1/2 years, committed my life to this…because of WTKR, the congressman is bringing awareness to the issue, writing the letter, giving us opportunity to come back and I really appreciate that,” said Caudill.
Now, it’s up to the Navy whether they will let these men and women serve again for the country they love.
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