thedrifter
08-15-07, 07:31 AM
Army chief says he's not sure when tours of duty can be cut from 15 to 12 months
By: LOLITA BALDOR - Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Army's top general said Tuesday that lengthening U.S. tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan beyond the current 15 months would be too stressful and risky for troops.
Gen. George Casey, the Army's chief of staff, also said he didn't know when officials would be able to cut the length of soldiers' tours back to 12 months.
"I don't see going beyond the 15 months," Casey said. "I've been there in Iraq, I've watched the nature of the combat and the stresses and strains that it puts on these soldiers."
He said the 90-day extension ordered by officials earlier this year can pass quickly, but staying longer would hurt troops.
"Any more than that, it puts our soldiers at a level of stress and a level of risk that right now I'm not comfortable with," he told reporters in an appearance at the National Press Club. "So it would be very hard for me to recommend going beyond the 15 months and ... we want to get down from 15 months as quickly as we can."
In an often blunt assessment of the state of the Army, Casey acknowledged that the long and repeated battlefield tours have knocked the Army out of balance, so it can no longer provide ready forces as quickly as it should for other missions.
"We're consumed with meeting the current demands and we're unable to provide ready forces as rapidly as we would like for other contingencies, nor are we able to provide an acceptable tempo of deployments to sustain our soldiers and families for the long haul," said Casey. Before taking over as chief of the Army earlier this year, Casey was the top U.S. commander in Iraq.
Casey also had words of caution for members of Congress, who have been clamoring for the Pentagon to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq and have proposed requiring the Army to give units returning home from Iraq at least a year or more of a break before another deployment.
"We prefer not to be limited or restricted by any kind of congressional action," he said. "Any external restrictions that are put on just compound the complexity of the task and make it even harder for us to do that."
Casey returned Sunday from a trip to Iraq and Afghanistan, visiting with commanders and troops. And he said he believes the additional U.S. forces are improving security there. In the Nineveh province up north, near Mosul, he said commanders believe they are "about ready" to turn security over to the Iraqis.
But his comments came just as four suicide bombers launched attacks in the north, killing at least 175 people and wounding scores of others. The four bombings about 75 miles west of Mosul set off the deadliest attack since 215 people were killed last November in a coordinated attack in Sadr City.
Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Richard Cody said earlier Tuesday that troops may be facing the longer deployments at least until next June. Cody said officials are assessing the situation, but it would take at least until then to return average deployments to 12 months while maintaining the roughly 160,000 troops in Iraq.
"It's going to take awhile to get off the 15 months," he said in an interview with The Associated Press at Fort Hood, Texas.
Cody faced questions at every meeting with troops and commanders about the extended deployments and sought to reassure them it was a temporary measure designed to get enough soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan while giving them at least a year to rest and train between deployments.
"It ... is not and will not be permanent," he said in a meeting with leaders of the 4th Infantry Division, which is preparing to return to Iraq late this year.
Associated Press writer Michelle Roberts contributed to this article from Texas.
On the Net:
Defense Department: www.defenselink.mil
Ellie
By: LOLITA BALDOR - Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Army's top general said Tuesday that lengthening U.S. tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan beyond the current 15 months would be too stressful and risky for troops.
Gen. George Casey, the Army's chief of staff, also said he didn't know when officials would be able to cut the length of soldiers' tours back to 12 months.
"I don't see going beyond the 15 months," Casey said. "I've been there in Iraq, I've watched the nature of the combat and the stresses and strains that it puts on these soldiers."
He said the 90-day extension ordered by officials earlier this year can pass quickly, but staying longer would hurt troops.
"Any more than that, it puts our soldiers at a level of stress and a level of risk that right now I'm not comfortable with," he told reporters in an appearance at the National Press Club. "So it would be very hard for me to recommend going beyond the 15 months and ... we want to get down from 15 months as quickly as we can."
In an often blunt assessment of the state of the Army, Casey acknowledged that the long and repeated battlefield tours have knocked the Army out of balance, so it can no longer provide ready forces as quickly as it should for other missions.
"We're consumed with meeting the current demands and we're unable to provide ready forces as rapidly as we would like for other contingencies, nor are we able to provide an acceptable tempo of deployments to sustain our soldiers and families for the long haul," said Casey. Before taking over as chief of the Army earlier this year, Casey was the top U.S. commander in Iraq.
Casey also had words of caution for members of Congress, who have been clamoring for the Pentagon to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq and have proposed requiring the Army to give units returning home from Iraq at least a year or more of a break before another deployment.
"We prefer not to be limited or restricted by any kind of congressional action," he said. "Any external restrictions that are put on just compound the complexity of the task and make it even harder for us to do that."
Casey returned Sunday from a trip to Iraq and Afghanistan, visiting with commanders and troops. And he said he believes the additional U.S. forces are improving security there. In the Nineveh province up north, near Mosul, he said commanders believe they are "about ready" to turn security over to the Iraqis.
But his comments came just as four suicide bombers launched attacks in the north, killing at least 175 people and wounding scores of others. The four bombings about 75 miles west of Mosul set off the deadliest attack since 215 people were killed last November in a coordinated attack in Sadr City.
Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Richard Cody said earlier Tuesday that troops may be facing the longer deployments at least until next June. Cody said officials are assessing the situation, but it would take at least until then to return average deployments to 12 months while maintaining the roughly 160,000 troops in Iraq.
"It's going to take awhile to get off the 15 months," he said in an interview with The Associated Press at Fort Hood, Texas.
Cody faced questions at every meeting with troops and commanders about the extended deployments and sought to reassure them it was a temporary measure designed to get enough soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan while giving them at least a year to rest and train between deployments.
"It ... is not and will not be permanent," he said in a meeting with leaders of the 4th Infantry Division, which is preparing to return to Iraq late this year.
Associated Press writer Michelle Roberts contributed to this article from Texas.
On the Net:
Defense Department: www.defenselink.mil
Ellie