12-Month Deployments Get Support

Pentagon leaders support the idea of limiting deployments to Iraq and other world hot spots to 12 months, but say soldiers should not expect any changes yet. An increase in "dwell time" between deployments would go a long way toward reducing strain and providing more time to train for future missions, said Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the former commander of Multinational Corps Iraq, on March 5. Ideally, troops would spend two years at home for each year they are deployed. "We’re not close to being there yet, but that’s the kind of metric I think we want to look at," Odierno said. The Army extended deployments of all U.S. Central Command troops to 15 months last April, to ensure that 20 combat brigades remained in Iraq during the troop surge aimed at quelling insurgent activity in and around Baghdad. During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in February, Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey told lawmakers he hoped 12-month deployments could resume sometime in July, when five combat brigades are scheduled to come home. But he stopped short of promising the change would take place.