bobdina
06-04-2009, 05:09 PM
Army aiming for rotational cycle for deployments
Soldiers would deploy for one year and have 3 years of dwell time
By Michelle Tan
mtan@militarytimes.com
About 10 Army brigades and Marine Corps regiments could be deployed at any given time over the next decade, the Army’s top general said May 28.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey said the deployments may not necessarily be in Iraq or Afghanistan, but the service must be prepared for a “long-term, sustained commitment.” Senior military leaders believe “we live in a time of persistent conflict,” Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Army Times editors and reporters on May 27.
“That means some level of rotational commitment for the foreseeable future, so you could say 10 to 15 years … that we are going to have all the forces, all the services, including the Army … rotating somewhere in the world,” he said. “[It’s] hard to say exactly where that would be. You could surmise that there may be a requirement in Iraq and Afghanistan. … In the Army’s case, [it] could be six brigades, could be 10 brigades, I don’t know.” The U.S. has been at war for more than seven years, and, moving forward, the Army must work toward a deployment rotation pace that is sustainable, Casey said.
That’s why senior Army leaders are looking to put the Army on a rotational cycle, much like the Navy and Marine Corps, said Casey, who was speaking to an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Soldiers would deploy for one year and have 3 years of dwell time
By Michelle Tan
mtan@militarytimes.com
About 10 Army brigades and Marine Corps regiments could be deployed at any given time over the next decade, the Army’s top general said May 28.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey said the deployments may not necessarily be in Iraq or Afghanistan, but the service must be prepared for a “long-term, sustained commitment.” Senior military leaders believe “we live in a time of persistent conflict,” Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Army Times editors and reporters on May 27.
“That means some level of rotational commitment for the foreseeable future, so you could say 10 to 15 years … that we are going to have all the forces, all the services, including the Army … rotating somewhere in the world,” he said. “[It’s] hard to say exactly where that would be. You could surmise that there may be a requirement in Iraq and Afghanistan. … In the Army’s case, [it] could be six brigades, could be 10 brigades, I don’t know.” The U.S. has been at war for more than seven years, and, moving forward, the Army must work toward a deployment rotation pace that is sustainable, Casey said.
That’s why senior Army leaders are looking to put the Army on a rotational cycle, much like the Navy and Marine Corps, said Casey, who was speaking to an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.