Kayso Gnomehater wrote:

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How did this happen? Is there a lot of people who sign up on/around the 4th so there are a lot of aniversary dates around that time? Are some of these people re-enlisting early? How did they come to be gathered in one place? Is this how re-enlistments always happen?

Considering that a lot of people join the military shortly after graduating from high school, I would imagine the pool for those who might be re-enlisting around that point would be large. You don't have to wait until the actual last day of your contract to re-enlist. Depending upon your MOS, the window may be open up to two years before your current contract ends. Let's say you had orginally signed up for six years and decided to re-enlist for four more on your fifth year. The year remaining of your current contract is rolled into the new contract as in if I enlisted in 2000 for six years and re-enlisted in 2004 for four more, the contract would then end in 2008. The earlier you re-enlist, the more it would affect any bonus you might get. Yes, some of those folks are probably re-enlisting early. They gathered in that place (Saddam's biggest palace in Baghdad) since it was large enough to contain them all and provide a great environment. It's definately not how it normally happens. Re-enlistment ceremonies vary. Some are very private - consisting of the commander, the person re-enlisting and the family. Some are open to all and conducted in front of the entire unit. Some are very limited on who can attend - I've attended one in Cuba that was conducted under water and another in Hawaii that required everyone to have jump wings to attend.