Heading to the end of this semester, I’m currently “surging” on that front, but the Stars and Stripes and Army Times have been doing their job well in the past two years, and here is a great example:
ARLINGTON, Va. — The Army is sending a company of Europe-based soldiers back to Iraq before the unit has had a full 12 months of “dwell time,” or at-home rest. Members of the 1st Armored Division’s 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry, Company A, learned Tuesday that they are scheduled to head back to Iraq in November, just nine months after the 150-soldier company left the combat zone in February after a 13-month deployment. The company’s return would seem to counter a pledge made by Defense Secretary Robert Gates on April 11, when he announced that all active-duty soldiers will spend 15 months in Iraq and Afghanistan, instead of a year. The primary reason for the extension, Gates said, was to make sure that Army units, and their personnel, had enough time to rest and renew themselves for the fight between deployments.
“What we’re trying to do here is provide some long-term predictability for the soldiers and their families about how long their deployments will be and how long they will be at home, and particularly guaranteeing that they will be at home for a full 12 months,” Gates said April 11. But asked late Wednesday about the situation, Gates said he could not explain why the Army was sending back the company from Germany just nine months after its last Iraq deployment. “I’ll be very interested in finding out more about that,” Gates said. “We just need to find out about that, because I made it clear that people would have 12 months at home.” (Source)
Check out Fernando Lujan’s related post at roguelystated.com:
http://tinyurl.com/2n5zmm
Fernando makes some excellent points! The 15 month tours, combined with less authority…worth a look for anyone reading this thread.
Gates wants to know what happened, but the troops are still going right back to the sandbox.
Indeed – – – This is why they wanted a war czar, so when Gates was overruled, Bush could point to a subordinate rather than himself. Gates not volunteering to act as the “buck stops here” guy basically exposes the back-channel from Bush, through Pace and down to the Army.
Gates is being taken out of the loop, which only goes to show what we’ve got on our hands at this point…the REAL reason for the surge is important enough to Bush to not fill in his secretary of defense. Why? Because Gates will quibble about rest time for the slaves, Bush will have to feign interest in something that is insignificant to him (the suffering of others), and then he’ll have to say something that will get leaked and end up in the papers.
Much better to just pretend that Gates isn’t even there and let the public sort it out.
I remember saving up a bunch of $$ in four years in the army. I spent it all practically in five years if college. I thought I’d never save up that much money again.
I did, with one single year in a goox civilian job. The army ain’t all its cracked up to be.
I remember marveling at your ability to squirrel away cash…talk about discipline! I’d be hard pressed to gather enough change for a deuce-deuce if it was a couple days before payday…that st. ides was only .85 cents I think, but it ruined me so many times.