thedrifter
08-11-08, 08:41 AM
More troops serve on combat tours
By Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has pushed an increasing percentage of its troops to combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan in the past two years, seeking to spread the burden on forces strained by multiple deployments, records show.
Through June, 57% of active-duty soldiers, Marines, airmen, sailors and Coast Guardsmen had served in or near Iraq and Afghanistan. That's up from 50% in 2006.
The Army, which shoulders most of the combat duty, has shifted many soldiers to specialties needed for the fight. They include infantry, military police and intelligence. In 2006, 58% of active-duty soldiers had served combat tours. That compares with 68% this year. About 10% more are in training and soon will be eligible for a combat deployment, said Lt. Col. Anne Edgecomb, an Army spokeswoman. Soldiers who haven't served in Iraq or Afghanistan may have medical problems, or they have specialties useful in other parts of the world, she said.
The percentage of soldiers who have served multiple deployments has jumped as well. Today, 31% of soldiers have been to war zones more than once. That compares with 20% in 2006.
Top officials, including Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have expressed concerns about the stress of multiple tours. In June, Mullen told soldiers at Fort Stewart in Georgia that he worried they'd leave once their obligations had expired.
"We can't afford to lose you," he said. "There's a finite amount of gas left in this tank. And we've used at least half the tank."
The Army recently reduced its standard combat deployments from 15 months to 12. Marine tours typically last seven months; Air Force tours, four or six months.
"Some of our soldiers have deployed more frequently than others because of their unique skills and the high demand for those skills," Edgecomb said. "But …we've made progress in adjusting the structure of our force to better meet current operational needs, which means more troops share the burden of deployment."
James Martin, a retired Army colonel at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, said commanders should carefully monitor soldiers and Marines who face the most stressful combat assignments, calling them "canaries in the coal mine."
Ellie
By Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has pushed an increasing percentage of its troops to combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan in the past two years, seeking to spread the burden on forces strained by multiple deployments, records show.
Through June, 57% of active-duty soldiers, Marines, airmen, sailors and Coast Guardsmen had served in or near Iraq and Afghanistan. That's up from 50% in 2006.
The Army, which shoulders most of the combat duty, has shifted many soldiers to specialties needed for the fight. They include infantry, military police and intelligence. In 2006, 58% of active-duty soldiers had served combat tours. That compares with 68% this year. About 10% more are in training and soon will be eligible for a combat deployment, said Lt. Col. Anne Edgecomb, an Army spokeswoman. Soldiers who haven't served in Iraq or Afghanistan may have medical problems, or they have specialties useful in other parts of the world, she said.
The percentage of soldiers who have served multiple deployments has jumped as well. Today, 31% of soldiers have been to war zones more than once. That compares with 20% in 2006.
Top officials, including Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have expressed concerns about the stress of multiple tours. In June, Mullen told soldiers at Fort Stewart in Georgia that he worried they'd leave once their obligations had expired.
"We can't afford to lose you," he said. "There's a finite amount of gas left in this tank. And we've used at least half the tank."
The Army recently reduced its standard combat deployments from 15 months to 12. Marine tours typically last seven months; Air Force tours, four or six months.
"Some of our soldiers have deployed more frequently than others because of their unique skills and the high demand for those skills," Edgecomb said. "But …we've made progress in adjusting the structure of our force to better meet current operational needs, which means more troops share the burden of deployment."
James Martin, a retired Army colonel at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, said commanders should carefully monitor soldiers and Marines who face the most stressful combat assignments, calling them "canaries in the coal mine."
Ellie