Air Force, Navy seeing growing duty in Iraq

[thedrifter]

Air Force, Navy seeing growing duty in Iraq
Personnel filling roles normally performed by strapped Army

Stewart M. Powell, Hearst Newspapers

Saturday, July 21, 2007

(07-21) 04:00 PDT Washington -- The Pentagon, scrambling to maintain 160,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, has ordered growing numbers of Air Force and Navy personnel into combat-related assignments with front-line Army and Marine Corps units.

The decision to send thousands of airmen and sailors into nontraditional assignments such as convoy duty reflects growing personnel shortages as the armed forces try to sustain the highest troop levels of the war.

The Air Force has steadily increased the number of personnel in Iraq in place of soldiers or Marines -- from 1,905 in 2004 to about 5,000 this year and 6,000 next year.

The Navy is sending roughly 2,200 of what the service calls "individual augmentees" this year to handle combat-related duties with Army and Marine units.

"The good news and bad news about this is that we are out doing things that our people weren't originally trained for," said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley in a speech.

Adm. Michael Mullen, the chief of naval operations designated as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in remarks to trainees that the Navy is "anxious to pitch in as much as we possibly can for the duration of this war," adding: "I don't see the need for Navy talent going down any time soon."

Air Force and Navy personnel bound for combat-related duties with ground combat units in Iraq receive at least two weeks of combat training at one of 15 Army training centers around the United States.

"Technically, these combat-related assignments do not violate service members' contracts," said Lawrence Korb, a former Reagan administration official who handled manpower as assistant secretary of defense.

"But many airmen and sailors are not volunteering for these jobs -- they're being told to do them, and that could cut down re-enlistments and complicate recruitment for both services down the road," he said.

Air Force and Navy personnel serve up to 12 months in Iraq -- shorter than the 15-month combat tours demanded of Army units since April.

Ellie