To allow for military absentee ballots to be sent overseas and returned before Election Day. (Why, when they're not living in the state? Because no one wants to be the one who denies a soldier, sailor or Marine the right to vote, even if they wouldn't otherwise have it.) Yes, it's that way everywhere else, too, although most states don't have the runoff rules to factor in.
Good answer...can't they use Federal Express?
Aw heck, we didn't have it back then, and I got a soldier's check sent to him in ONE DAY.
Sorry, we're back to that summer of '79. One of my MP's hadn't been paid in six weeks. He was miserable, hearing all of the stories of the fun had in nearby Lutjenberg. I knew that my NCOs had been working his chain of command, obviously to no avail. 18 years old, almost in tears, half the summer gone.
I got ticked, and told my clerk, "get me his Group Commander on the phone! I'm only talking to him!" Five minutes later, I'm on the phone with him. I explained the situation to him, that he was my last resort.
I followed that with "Sir, I had the pleasure of meeting you at the outbriefing of the Nuclear Surety Inspection at Bravo Battery, 5/6 ADA. I was the Augmentation Reserve Force Commander from Charlie 6/56."
I had gotten into it with the Chief Evaluator. I had 4 hours to assemble and train 40 air defenders whose last infantry experience was basic training. I got them there 30 minutes ahead of mission time, and this a-hole LTC starts chewing me out, "what took you so damn long?" I explained to him they needed extra training for this mission. For pete's sake, we were going to run infantry small unit tactics inside an area housing nukes.
At the outbriefing, the only negative comment had to do with the lack of urgency displayed by my unit. It was such a ridiculous comment, the officers from the other unit were snickering.
When the team left, the Deputy CG of 32nd AADCOM, BG Archie Cannon went to the podium. He pointed his finger at me, and said, "LT, anytime you want to give your soldiers extra training, you have my express permission."
The tenor of the conversation with the Group Commander immediately changed. "Sure I remember! LT, how are you doing up there!" Within an hour, a jeep was on being dispatched to our location, 400+ miles away. They arrived in time for breakfast, and we presented the paycheck to my MP.
Truly one of my fondest memories of my 8+ years in the Army.
