October 23, 2007
'We're Going To Lose You'
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Michael Mullen is getting an earful from soldiers who are stressed by the 15/12 deployment schedule for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
"That year we're back, it's just not good enough," an Army captain told Mullen during a stop on a two-day tour of bases.
Army Times reports that the press withheld the soldiers' names so that they could speak freely in the Q&A session at Fort Sill in Oklahoma. The resounding message was that the military has to restore the 1:3 or 1:4 deployment schedule to give soldiers sufficient time to train and be with their families.
"I believe there's... a limit here we just can't exceed," Mullen told the soldiers. "That reminds me of the old days, the disgust you hear about families not being a priority. That is just not the case in 2007. It can't be the case if we're going to have a healthy force."
Democrats and some Republicans in the Senate have tried and failed to pass legislation [PDF] mandating equal time at home to time in the war zone for troops. The House passed a bill giving troops twice as much time at home as in the field, but President Bush has vowed to veto all such legislation.
Republicans opposed any measures that could be perceived as Congress dictating war strategy. A congressional aide close to the deployment schedule debate told The Gate that for now, there is little lawmakers can do to ease the strain on troops. In testimony before the House Armed Services Committee in September, Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey described the force as "out of balance" because of the lengthy commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In an interview published by the New York Times this week, Mullen issued a warning to hawks pressing for military action against Iran.
"We're in a conflict in two countries out there right now," he said. "We have to be incredibly thoughtful about the potential of in fact getting into a conflict with a third country in that part of the world."
Discussing the deployment schedule with soldiers today, Mullen compared the current strain on the military to that seen during the Vietnam war.
"I am not willing to see the United States military return to the kind of challenges that we had when I was young," Mullen said. "We've got to figure out a way to make sure that family considerations are very much in play. In fact, it's my view, long-term -- which isn't that far off -- if I don’t figure out as a leader how to put you and your needs at the center of your future... eventually, we're going to lose you."
Posted at 6:15 PM
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Afghanistan, Asia, Iran, Iraq, Michael Mullen, Middle East, Military
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