Army foresees doubling up tours

[lebkuchen]

Imagine the impact this plan will have on military family values.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=676&e=5&u=/usatoday/20030825/ts_usatoday/11690083

Grappling with large, simultaneous deployments
around the world, Army planners are trying to
determine how many troops will have to serve
extra tours. Based on the forces they must keep
in place overseas, planners have concluded they
will have no choice but to force thousands of
troops to return to new overseas assignment after
only a short time at home.

<snip>

Army officials are worried that the added tours
will lower morale and cause a wave of exits
throughout the Army. A key concern is that the
deployments will cause an exodus of
experienced, mid-career veterans such as
sergeants, staff sergeants and captains, who are
harder to replace than younger soldiers.

<snip>

An officer says the Army would attempt to
allow troops rotating home to have at least three months before heading
back for a second overseas tour.

<snip>


Says one high-ranking Pentagon official familiar with the math: "Looking out
three years, it is not unreasonable to expect that within a two-year period, a
guy will have to do a year and a half outside the United States."

[JHB]

1. Remind me just who "slashed national defense"?

I seem to recall a lot of hot elephant-scented air over alleged reduction of our readiness during the Clinton administration.

Where are those voices now, when we stand to loose the experienced core of our military rank & file because they signed up to defend the country, not give their lives for the PNAC Gallery wish list?

[Paschall]

2. Can somebody explain why...

..."Army planners are trying to determine how many troops will have to serve extra tours"?

Except for the few hundred troops in Liberia, as far as I know, all the deployments have been either to meet pre-existing commitments (Kosovo) or wars, invasions, and "support actions" (Afghanistan, Iraq, Philippines) we've entered into by choice and led. Nothing, or little, unexpected there.

Why is the DoD only now "trying to determine" the consequences of this administration's actions? Mr. Rumsfeld?

[Saintgermane]

4. mmmm, well,

"Senior Petagon Oficial" is codespeak for 'senior civilian pentagon official', which means they are probably part of the club that not only sold, but really, really believed the flowers and open-arms scenario.

"Army Officials", on the other hand, means a career military officer having to deal with the mess, and remaining loyal to his civilian bosses.

Of course, we COULD have run long-term troop deployment and rotation schedules, but nobody (at least, nobody with any authority) really believed things would be going in the direction they seem to be going.

Since the expectation was rapid troop diminishment, nobody (apparently) planned for the situation we now find ourselves in, and I do think the administraion sincerely believed that foreign troops would be more forthcoming (that they believed so is truly astonishing, but that is another matter).

Basically, my guess is, "Army Officials" were told by "Senior Pentagon Officials" not to waste time and man-hours developing deployment schedules for post-conflict Iraq....and are nowbeng told (by the same Senior pPentagon Officials), "What! You didn't develop extended deployment schedules! What's wrong with you bozos in uniform, do we have to tell you to do everything!"

[Medical Speaking]

3. Tours

This happened in Viet-Nam also, And there was alot of men that did not re-up because you would havet to go back to Viet-Nam. I know because I was one of them. And for this lame excuse for this war.
Good luck to them

A Vet