April 11, 2007
DOD Extends Active Army Tours To 15 Months
The Pentagon confirmed today that active-duty Army units serving in Iraq and Afghanistan will have their tours extended to 15 months from a year, and will also be guaranteed a year at home. The decision was made to provide a "more predictable and dependable schedule of deployment for soldiers and their families," top military commanders said.
"Effective immediately, active Army units now in the Central Command area of responsibility and those headed there will be deployed for not more than 15 months and will return home to home station for not less than 12 months," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said at a hastily announced press conference.
Gates, appearing alongside Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Peter Pace, confirmed earlier reports that the Pentagon was weighing the decision to lengthen soldiers' tours. The leak forced the military to break with practice and make the service announcement public, rather than privately notify service members and give them 48 hours to inform loved ones.
"Some very thoughtless person in this building made the unilateral decision yesterday to deny the Army the opportunity to notify unit commanders" so they could give troops and their families 48 hours notice, Gates said. "I can't tell you how angry it makes many of us," he added.
Gates repeatedly tried to remind reporters that there was a bright side to today's news, which was that units would get a mandatory 12 months home between deployments. Over the weekend, National Guard brigades in Arkansas, Indiana, Ohio and Oklahoma were notified they were being called to Iraq -- the first time Guard brigades have been called up twice for combat duty since the 9/11 attacks. The Army has had to send back two brigades before their expected year at home was up.
The decision to keep soldiers in combat longer while setting a minimum on their time at home was the Pentagon's attempt to both compensate for an overstretched force and ensure soldiers would "share the burden equally," Gates said.
Gates described the compromise as a "fair, predictable and sustainable commitment to the troops that they can use with confidence to understand what the country is asking of them as they deploy."
On top of the very real toll on service members and their families, the military's budget for the war will take a hit. The clock is ticking on military resources as the White House and members of Congress face off over a timeline for troop withdrawal from Iraq. Earlier today, senior Democratic senators including Majority Leader Harry Reid sent a letter to President Bush inviting him "to begin a dialogue" on the bill this Friday.
The overture comes a day after Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected Bush's invitation to discuss the funding measure with him in the Oval Office. The president has repeatedly warned Democrats that any bill containing withdrawal or timeline language will be vetoed, which would further delay the funding process.
Earlier today, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the president was under the impression Reid had agreed to discuss the war at the White House, which the Nevada Democrat denied. Today's invitation from the Democrats asks the president to meet them on their turf on Capitol Hill.
Posted at 2:57 PM
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Iraq, Military, Robert Gates
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