Geren: Longer S. Korea tours coming soon

[unhappycamper]

Geren: Longer S. Korea tours coming soon
By Teri Weaver and Erik Slavin , Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Wednesday, November 26, 2008

YONGSAN GARRISON, South Korea — Longer tours for soldiers in South Korea will happen "in the not-too-distant future," according to the Army’s top civilian leader.

"It’s an issue that is in front of the Department of Defense today," Army Secretary Pete Geren said Monday during an interview at American Forces Network-Korea studios on Yongsan Garrison.

"I feel confident that we’re going to have tour normalization in the not-too-distant future," Geren said, adding that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has personally endorsed the idea.

The move toward "tour normalization" is a long-term goal for military leaders within U.S. Forces Korea. Currently, about 80 percent of U.S. soldiers in South Korea serve one-year tours without DOD-sponsored accompanyment of their families

Commanders would like to increase the assignment to two years for soldiers who come without families and three years for those who have permission to bring their dependents. Most other commands in Europe and the United States use these longer tours.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=59046