Veterans For America

William H. McMichael, Army Times (subscription required)

Joint Chiefs chairman looks to increase dwell time for soldiers, but not at expense of mission

Excerpt:

Officials say personnel growth in the ground forces will help increase the amount of time between deployments — “dwell time” — to give war-weary troops more time at home to recuperate and train for a broader mix of missions than only the counterinsurgency effort demanded by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Currently, Army troops serve 15-month war tours and come home for as little as 12 months before deploying again, while Marines deploy for seven months at a time and can go back seven months later. Mullen said officials want to get the Army to a 1-to-1 ratio as soon as possible, with an ultimate goal for all ground troops of one-year deployments with two years at home.

“We all feel we’ve got to move in that direction,” Mullen said. “That said, we’ve got operational obligations which we’re going to have to fill. And that’s the balance piece. That’s the constant tension that’s there.”

Getting it “right for the future,” Mullen said, is “a combination of winning today … and also getting ready … for tomorrow.”

The planned cut in combat forces in Iraq by next July will also help ease the strain, he said.

“Coming down to 15 brigades in Iraq will have an impact on that over the long run,” Mullen said.

In addition, he said, Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway “are looking at ways to deploy more of their services. There’s been a certain percentage of each service which has deployed, and they’re looking for ways to increase those numbers” as a way to broaden the deployment pool and ease the operations tempo for everyone.

Mullen did not provide further details on that initiative.

He said there has been no discussion about relying more heavily on the National Guard or reserves, which are already major contributors to the wars, in order to reduce the pressure on the active force.