thedrifter
04-01-06, 07:16 AM
Army hopes to cut combat tours
By JEREMY REDMON
Cox News Service
Friday, March 31, 2006
CLEVELAND, Ga. — Army officials want to slash combat tours for soldiers by as much as six months, the service's top general said Thursday during a vist to North Georgia.
Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army's chief of staff, said his goal is to reduce deployment lengths to six or nine months as they were for soldiers who served in Bosnia and Kosovo.
Many soldiers are serving in Iraq for a year or more, which can strain their marriages and traumatize their children. Some are already on their second or third tours in a combat zone.
Marines and airmen already serve shorter combat tours than most soldiers.
But Schoomaker said one-year deployments will be in effect in the Army for the "foreseeable future," particularly until security improves in Iraq. He indicated the change to shorter deployments could happen within the next few years.
"I grew up in a deployed family and spent damn-near four decades deployed, on and off," the 60-year-old veteran said.
"On the other hand, soldiers expect this. There are those that quite frankly actually prefer to go ahead and do this for a year at a whack than say goodbye twice as often and all that stuff."
Schoomaker talked about his goals for the Army after observing Army Rangers practice rock climbing techniques at Mount Yonah, near Cleveland. Earlier Thursday, he spoke at a leadership conference at North Georgia College & State University in Dahlonega.
Schoomaker said the military is reducing its reliance on National Guard and Reserve soldiers in Iraq and will continue to do so for overseas combat operations. He said plans are already underway to deploy these units only once every six years.
"If there is big enough fire we will call them. If there is a smaller fire we won't call them," he said. "But they will know they are going to be ready. And it is going to help us because it will give their families, their employers and everybody else better predictability."
Schoomaker added that the Guard and Reserve "are going to play an increasingly important role both at home and away. But we are cognizant of the challenges that citizen soldiers have. And we know we will have to rely on active [soldiers] first."
He said he also envisions having a unified Guard, Reserve and regular Army that is better trained and equipped.
"Our future strategy is dependent on having access to the Guard and Reserve," he said. "They are no longer going to be a strategic if-the-worst-happens kind of force. They are going to be part of the operational force.
"And their use will obviously be less than the active force, but their readiness to be used if called upon will be raised."
Schoomaker praised the performance of the Guard and Reserve units in Iraq, singling out Georgia's 48th Brigade Combat Team. The 48th is preparing to return home this spring after nearly a yearlong deployment.
"The 48th is doing great. They have great leadership," he said.
Jeremy Redmon writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Ellie
By JEREMY REDMON
Cox News Service
Friday, March 31, 2006
CLEVELAND, Ga. — Army officials want to slash combat tours for soldiers by as much as six months, the service's top general said Thursday during a vist to North Georgia.
Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army's chief of staff, said his goal is to reduce deployment lengths to six or nine months as they were for soldiers who served in Bosnia and Kosovo.
Many soldiers are serving in Iraq for a year or more, which can strain their marriages and traumatize their children. Some are already on their second or third tours in a combat zone.
Marines and airmen already serve shorter combat tours than most soldiers.
But Schoomaker said one-year deployments will be in effect in the Army for the "foreseeable future," particularly until security improves in Iraq. He indicated the change to shorter deployments could happen within the next few years.
"I grew up in a deployed family and spent damn-near four decades deployed, on and off," the 60-year-old veteran said.
"On the other hand, soldiers expect this. There are those that quite frankly actually prefer to go ahead and do this for a year at a whack than say goodbye twice as often and all that stuff."
Schoomaker talked about his goals for the Army after observing Army Rangers practice rock climbing techniques at Mount Yonah, near Cleveland. Earlier Thursday, he spoke at a leadership conference at North Georgia College & State University in Dahlonega.
Schoomaker said the military is reducing its reliance on National Guard and Reserve soldiers in Iraq and will continue to do so for overseas combat operations. He said plans are already underway to deploy these units only once every six years.
"If there is big enough fire we will call them. If there is a smaller fire we won't call them," he said. "But they will know they are going to be ready. And it is going to help us because it will give their families, their employers and everybody else better predictability."
Schoomaker added that the Guard and Reserve "are going to play an increasingly important role both at home and away. But we are cognizant of the challenges that citizen soldiers have. And we know we will have to rely on active [soldiers] first."
He said he also envisions having a unified Guard, Reserve and regular Army that is better trained and equipped.
"Our future strategy is dependent on having access to the Guard and Reserve," he said. "They are no longer going to be a strategic if-the-worst-happens kind of force. They are going to be part of the operational force.
"And their use will obviously be less than the active force, but their readiness to be used if called upon will be raised."
Schoomaker praised the performance of the Guard and Reserve units in Iraq, singling out Georgia's 48th Brigade Combat Team. The 48th is preparing to return home this spring after nearly a yearlong deployment.
"The 48th is doing great. They have great leadership," he said.
Jeremy Redmon writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Ellie