Is US Army bent to the breaking point?
If retention rates of US military personnel begin to weaken, it could take years to reverse the trend.
from the April 4, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
Mr. Scales, a former commander of the Army War College, has warned that there aren't enough Army brigades to sustain the mission in Iraq. To give soldiers the kind of training and rest they need, the nation would need as many as 99 Army and Marine Corps brigades, but it has only half that many.
"All you have to do is the math," he says.
The deployment announced Monday helps to sustain the buildup of about 30,000 combat and support forces in Iraq through the end of the summer. It does not represent any additional increase in forces than what had already been announced.
The deployment means that about 1,000 soldiers from the division headquarters of the Texas-based 4th Infantry Division will leave for Iraq in August, 81 days prior to what would be their 12-month "dwell time" at home. Another 3,500 soldiers from the 1st Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division, based in Fort Drum, N.Y., will also leave early, by about 45 days.
The only other major unit to be sent early to combat is the Georgia-based 3rd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division, according to Col. Daniel Baggio, an Army spokesman. That unit deployed earlier this year.
Under the operational scenarios used currently for most active-duty forces, a unit should deploy for a period of time – one year for soldiers and seven months for marines – and return home for dwell time for at least that amount of time.
Sustaining this level of effort in Iraq without requiring more extensions or early departures would be a challenge, said Air Force Gen. Lance Smith, the commander of US Joint Forces Command, the unit that provides forces to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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