king vincent argued october decided december petitioner king national guard member advised civilian employer respondent vincent hospital accepted appointment guard requested leave absence hospital job ostensibly guaranteed statute provides reemployment rights service personnel king position vincent denied king request brought suit district seeking declaratory judgment act provide reemployment rights tours duty long king granted requested relief ruling service type question protected holding circuit precedent leave requests subsection must reasonable king request leave per se unreasonable panel appeals affirmed held section limit length military service member armed forces retains right civilian reemployment subsection text specifies covered employee shall granted leave period required perform active duty pon release duty shall permitted return position utterly silent durational limit protection provides reading statute whole must inferred unqualified nature subsection protection deliberate since subsections protecting classes service personnel expressly limit periods protection vincent argument limits reflect hierarchy reemployment rights reservists subject duty subsection entitled least protection therefore subject imprecise durational limit reasonableness unconvincing conclusion rests circular reasoning requiring assumption point issue reservists really get less protection inductees enlistees veterans covered subsections pp ca reversed remanded souter delivered opinion members joined except thomas took part consideration decision case amy wax argued cause petitioner briefs solicitor general starr assistant attorney general gerson deputy solicitor general shapiro michael jay singer harry hopkins argued cause filed brief respondent justice souter delivered opinion issue case whether provision popularly known veterans reemployment rights act implicitly limits length military service member armed forces retains right civilian reemployment hold june petitioner william sky king member alabama national guard applied become command sergeant major active agr program thereby undertook serve tour duty required army regulations person holding position next month king learned selection advised employer respondent vincent hospital accepted guard appointment requested leave absence hospital job ostensibly guaranteed act reported military duty ordered august several weeks later vincent advised request unreasonable thus beyond act guarantee informing king vincent took step bringing declaratory judgment action district district northern alabama settle issue whether applicable terms act provided reemployment rights tours duty long king although held service agr program carried protection nonetheless rendered declaratory judgment vincent ground request leave absence per se unreasonable imposing test reasonableness king request district following opinion eleventh circuit gulf paper ingram turn interpreted fifth circuit case requiring leave requests protection must reasonable see lee pensacola panel eleventh circuit affirmed two judges agreeing district guaranteeing reemployment tour duty per se unreasonable thereby putting king outside protection judge roney concurred separately king request unreasonable dissented creation per se rule like fifth eleventh circuits third engrafted reasonableness requirement onto eidukonis southeastern pennsylvania transportation authority fourth circuit hand declined kolkhorst tilghman cert pending granted certiorari resolve conflict reverse judgment eleventh circuit ii start text see schreiber burlington northern free express conditions upon provisions contention covered person shall upon request granted leave absence person employer period required perform active duty training inactive duty training armed forces upon employee release period duty employee shall permitted return employee position seniority status pay vacation employee employee absent purposes thus fourth circuit call subsection guarantee leave reemployment unequivocal unqualified kolkhorst supra eleventh circuit observed subsection address reasonableness reservist leave request gulf supra although vincent recognizes importance statute freedom provisos see brief respondent still argues text subsection favors position hospital stresses leave used subsection enjoyed employee whose status implies employment relationship continues absence accordingly employees protected subsection returned positions military service reservists protected subsections restored difference language attesting former remain employees latter cease time away hospital argues notion continuing relationship incompatible absences lengthy king finds conclusion supported provisions speaking actual mechanics resuming employment reservists subject subsections must reapply employment protected subsection allowed indeed required report work beginning next regularly scheduled working period tour military duty expires hospital posits impracticality expecting employee report work immediately absence take apron peg hospital counsel put go back work nothing happened also makes much difficulties filling responsible positions follow incumbents turned abruptly serving long upon prior incumbent equally abrupt return arguments others like set length two replies order may grant congressionally mandated leave absence ungainly perquisite military service tour duty lasts long king promises free tinker statutory scheme reasonably accord significance burdens imposed employers workers long leaves absence chosen means guaranteeing eventual reemployment military personnel grant find equivocation statute silence render susceptible interpretive choice contrary verbal distinctions underlying hospital arguments become pallid light textual difference far glaring noted subsection utterly silent durational limit protection provides subsections protecting classes service personnel expressly limit periods protection thus currently gives enlistees least four years reemployment protection possibility extension five years even longer example extends protection entering active duty except purpose determining physical fitness training least four years possibility extension beyond given examples affirmative limitations reemployment benefits conferred neighboring provisions infer simplicity subsection deliberate consistent plain meaning provide benefit without conditions length service concluding nothing course follow cardinal rule statute read whole see massachusetts morash since meaning statutory language plain depends context see shell oil iowa dept revenue words pebbles alien juxtaposition communal existence meaning interpenetrate aggregate take purport setting used nlrb federbush hand quoted shell oil supra vincent embraces principle though think way misapplication countering preceding textual analysis structural analysis purports discern significant hierarchy reemployment rights statutory scheme hospital reads together companion provisions generous protection goes inductees whose reemployment rights unqualified reference duration service enlistees entering active duty response order call come next protection long tours duty exceed five years hospital claims bottom employment rights scheme brief respondent fall reemployment rights protected ibid unnatural view least protected veterans subject imprecise limit reasonableness length voluntary duty giving rise job protection hospital argument convince invokes significance context conclusion rests quite circular reasoning pointed differences treatment among various classes service people protected various provisions statute differences necessarily make hierarchies differences revealed hospital examples point inexorably downward without assuming point issue reservists subject training duty within meaning subsection really get less protection inductees enlistees covered provisions without assumption simply differences treatment respected limiting protection text contains limit leaving textually unlimited protection congress apparently chose leave text places limit length tour king may enforce reemployment rights vincent hold plain limit implied iii judgment appeals reversed case remanded proceedings consistent opinion justice thomas took part consideration decision case footnotes alabama national guard militia state control except certain constitutionally defined circumstances see art cl congress nonetheless authorized generally provide organizing arming disciplining guard cl federal law issue case department army reg ch ii length periods ad ftd agr program established congress see department defense authorization act tit iv stat section covers agr participants see veterans rehabilitation education amendments stat neither party contests applicability king leave request lee binding precedent eleventh circuit decided january eleventh circuit carved fifth see bonner prichard en banc fifth circuit decisions handed adopted eleventh circuit precedent see also lemmon county santa cruz nd cal adopting reasonableness requirement set forth lee bottger doss aeronautical md following lee anthony basic foods nd cal parties accepting reasonableness test subsections identify classes reservists enlistees called active duty make applicable classes reemployment protection offered inductees pursuant ii namely restor ation formerly held position position like seniority status pay counterexample vincent might cite providing reservists ordered active duty days guarantee reemployment extending period duty standing alone subsection provision might suggest guarantee extending duration reservist tour active duty must express examples specific durational limitations described text show congress knew provide limits benefits intent even express examples unsettled significance subsection drafting however ultimately read provision king favor canon provisions benefits members armed services construed beneficiaries favor fishgold sullivan drydock repair presume congressional understanding interpretive principles mcnary haitian refugee center presumable congress legislates knowledge basic rules statutory construction see also hartwell wall construing statute adopt sense words best harmonizes context promotes policy objectives legislature see generally sands sutherland statutory construction rev ed see see basic limit four years additional year protection government requests additional service hospital claims find additional support declension legislative history relying heavily excerpts house senate reports bill eventuated current statute brief respondent find terms statute unambiguous judicial inquiry complete except rare exceptional circumstances rubin internal quotation marks omitted circumstances present indicate hospital invocation legislative history make case hospital relies heavily senate house reports citing leaves covered see see also brief respondent history may demonstrate applied short leaves significance surely blunted congress undoubted intention years later apply subsection long leaves brought agr participants see veterans rehabilitation education amendments stat inference congress intended limits hospital espouses buttressed joint conference committee disapproval shift position taken department labor issue department took position adopt see department labor veterans reemployment rights handbook lee pensacola department adopted different view protection applied leaves days less see subsequently joint conference committee report announced house senate veterans affairs committees id believe limit either legislative interpretation application pertinent case law coming aftermath congress decision place agr participants coverage statement decidedly odds hospital position confirms conclusion enactment agr program intended modify ostensibly unconditional application