Extension talk hits 1st AD families hard

[lebkuchen]

...soldiers’ families were told Thursday to expect their loved ones to remain in Iraq for up to four more months.

~cut~

Tears that Karissa Coulter cried over the possible extension turned to anger when she thought of her husband, Spc. Joel Coulter, having to stay longer. In the year and a half since they married, the couple has had slightly more than two months together. She knows few people in Baumholder and her family is thousands of miles away.

In the past couple of days, she has developed stomach pains, she said. Hearing folks speculate whether official word will come about the division’s future makes it worse, she said.

“If it’s bad news, it usually happens,” Coulter said. “I hate the Army right now. Why can’t they send some other unit?”

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=21535

[phantom power]

1. one thing is for sure

We're going to find out just how much suffering people think this war in Iraq is worth. We don't have enough troops to rotate our soldiers. They aren't going to get to come home, except maybe for a week or two at a time. Or until they get killed.