Army to Urge More Time At Home For Soldiers

[RamboLiberal]

Source: Washington Post

Army Chief of Staff George W. Casey Jr., who is scheduled to testify today before the House Armed Services Committee, intends to move as quickly as possible to grant soldiers more relief from the war zone, having argued that the troop rotations of 15 months in combat and 12 months at home -- required by the buildup of U.S. forces in Iraq and the conflict in Afghanistan -- are "not sustainable" for the Army.

Army planners are considering options for how to use the withdrawal of five Army combat brigades from Iraq by next July to increase the time that soldiers spend at home compared with the time on the battlefield. The reduction is part of the drawdown of 21,700 combat troops that President Bush announced this month. Requiring equal time deployed and time at home was a key aim of Democratic legislation that failed last week in Congress.

"The Army . . . is trying very hard to reduce the amount of time deployed versus the dwell time back in the United States, trying to get to a 12-month deployment to a 12-month dwell time back at home station," said Maj. Gen. Richard Sherlock, director of operational planning for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a Pentagon briefing yesterday.

Another option outlined by Army officials would be to retain the current 15-month tours but gradually lengthen the time at home and allow some units to leave earlier. "It's better to maintain the predictability of saying you are going for 15 months," said one Army official, adding: "We don't want to overpromise anything."



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/25/AR2007092502139.html?hpid=topnews

[Hieronymus]

1. The cons will squelch that, again.

[gateley]

2. By the way, any reason given WHY it was squelched? They -- and Bush --

talk about the Betreyus ad as being a slap in the face to our troops and the military, but denying what the military wants and the troops NEED is okay.

I hate the way thinking about those jerks makes me feel.

[salin]

3. 1 repub congressman said it was a dishonor

to suggest, in essence, that our troops are so wimpy that they *need* more time off. Can't recall who it was - but it was a disgusting spin to cover their butts for this vote if I ever read one.

[leftynyc]

4. We need to find out who he/she is

along with everyone who voted against this and slam them HARD.

[RamboLiberal]

23. That was none other than RNC chair Mel Martinez

Martinez: “I think we would demean their service if we were to say to them that there had to be a parity between the time in service out of the country and the time at home.”

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/09/19/vote-on-the-webb-amendment-going-on-now/

[Lindsay]

5. The argument I heard

was that Congress should not micromanage The War.

Of course, those kinds of decisions used to be up to Congress, when we had a constitution.

[babylonsister]

9. Supposedly Congress only has power over the purse, not the

management of the 'illegal occupation'-so say the rethugs who want to work the soldiers' asses into the ground, w/o consideration for families, morale, etc. That's all the decision of the cIc, so they say, til they change their minds. It's 'fluid', I guess.

[gratuitous]

13. Yeah, a slap in the face!

Why does the Army hate the troops?

Some days it seems we went not just through the looking glass, but we threw the looking glass through another looking glass and then jumped through them both. Backwards.

[gateley]

20. Thanks to you all. Even though your answers differed slightly, the main

theme comes through loud and clear.

This is one that I would thinkt those still supporting Bush and the war would find hard to justify in their minds.

Thanks again!

[Gman]

6. Why does Casey hate the troops?

He won't let them do their job.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

12. Why does the Army Hate America? That's the better question.

because it makes all those GOPee turds, and their democratic enablers look foolish. Although Lieberman needs little outside help on that score.

[FunkyLeprechaun]

7. Thanks for this!

I post on a bipartisan message board and the Republicans on there responded to the defeat of that bill to give troops more rest time with these:

RK: "Please!!! Rest time?? How disingenuous can you be tig. That bill was to force withdrawal of our troops. I know you know better than that. What a load of crap."

(same person) "Defeat in Iraq would be a huge danger to us Tig..You just don't want to face that fact. Also the way in which this bill had to be implemented would require us to begin withdrawing from Iraq. Everyone knows this that's why it was voted down. Also if it truly is that hard on the troops and they are on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion why are they reenlisting in record numbers?"

(In which the aforementioned Democrat (Tig) posts a link to a Pentagon report giving huge bonuses to persuade military people to reenlist)

Among others.

I just posted the link to this article in that thread and am awaiting a response from the Republicans on there... they kept translating the bill as a bill for withdrawal.

Crazy I know.

Here's the post I speak of: http://www.tdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=7058 (I use the same SN as this website).

[Nickster]

8. It always amazes me how people come out in favor of things after the time to help passes. Where the

heck was this opinion when they were voting on Webb's dwell time bill? Probably would have helped sway the vote a bit to hear the Army Chief of Staff agree with Senator Webb, but I may just be goofy that way.

[rodeodance]

10. I wonder if his is one of the Generals who talked with WARNER the day before he

voted against Webb??
something is strange here!

[Donnachaidh]

14. Bingo!

This late *protestation* is nothing more than a political maneuver to pacify the troops who are probably mad as hell that the Webb proposal was shot down.

Nothing to see here folks - move along... :shrug:

[MaineDem]

15. Exactly!

It's part of the spin.

Sad that they're all playing with our soldiers' lives.

[rodeodance]

11. Tanks and Bradleys have been eaten up to no end. We have to replace

Army officials said that in addition to addressing ways to reduce stress on the force, Casey and Geren will attempt to impress upon lawmakers that the Army's need for billions in additional funding will continue long after tens of thousands of soldiers return from Iraq.

"We're trying to inform Congress about the Army's future funding problems," said one senior Army official. "We've got to recapitalize our whole armor fleet. Tanks and Bradleys have been eaten up to no end. We have to replace the pre-positioned equipment" of stocks stored overseas, the official said. "That's something no one likes to talk about."

[entanglement]

16. More time at home ABOVE GROUND

[Broadslidin]

17. U.S. Government Sanctioned Psychoactive Substances will be Available by the Bowlful

Irrational Impulses committed
by returning Iraq Military Invasion Forces
must be curtailed by all means available...

[hvn_nbr_2]

18. Why worry? It's not our kids there.

The kids of rich powerful Republicans aren't going over there. What's the problem? :sarcasm:

[ashling]

19. LTTE is sent in last week

Political ads don’t kill our troops – lack of rest and training kills our troops.
Republicans had the opportunity to show their real support for our troops by helping to pass the amendment of Sen. Webb to provide more time at home and training for troops that have been deployed to Iraq. This is the same party that whined about their families being “torn apart” when the Democrats took control of Congress and suggested that they actually work a full week.
They also had the opportunity to show their support for our freedom by restoring habeas corpus. They declined to support either of these measures and instead vociferously condemn MoveOn.org for exercising it’s right of free speech.
Excoriating generals is an American tradition going back to Generals George Washington. Questioning their credibility and honesty goes back to General Colin Powell who was sheepishly believed when he lied to the American public as well as the United Nations.
I am puzzled as to why the Republicans would put so much energy into their condemnation of Moveon while killing Sen. Webb’s amendment. I have long since stopped asking why Republicans distrust our freedoms, but I still wonder, why do they hate our troops?

[erpowers]

21. Democrats Support The Troops

I think the main reason the Republicans tried so hard to stop the Webb legislation just to have someone else to put it forward again was to prevent the people from seeing the Democrats supporting the troops. If the peoplw see the Democrats putting forward legislation that help troops it could be hard to continue claiming that Democrats do not support the troops. During the same time of the Webb legislation the Republican including Bush were trying to say that Democrats cared more about keeping Moveon.org happy than supporting the troops. If this legislation would have passed that could have put a dent in that talking point.

[Orsino]

22. So not even our troops support the troops?

Damn.

(:sarcasm:)