Two of our pilots I know very well had their commanders called last year to bully them into not taking Military Leave. The calls started something like this "This is General Delta Tango, I'd like to speak to someone in charge preferably a Lt Col or above." One of the commanders actually had a pilot go non-current to fly in December because he was concerned about future pilots getting hired here. The other stood his ground, explained to Delta Tango that he was breaking the law by even making the phone call, and basically told him to ARGO (if you remember the line from the movie ARGO, I think you will catch my drift). These actions are illegal, unpatriotic, and plain wrong. To send out this kind of FCIF on VETERANS DAY is unbelievable. To not send out the yearly "thanks for your service" msg is unforgivable. I don't think anyone is that dumb, but I've been wrong before.
OBTW -- There is no embellishment in this msg....