Guardsmen to return to war sooner

New policy ends 5-year lag before second tour of duty
Peter Spiegel, Los Angeles Times

Friday, January 12, 2007


(01-12) 04:00 PST Washington -- Confronted with the increasing demands of the Iraq war, the Pentagon announced plans Thursday to recall Army National Guard units that have already fought in Iraq to serve second tours in the war, reversing a long-standing policy that allowed guardsmen to return home for five years before being redeployed.

No new Guard units have been included in the first wave of forces going to Iraq as part of President Bush's 21,500-troop increase announced Wednesday night, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates insisted the change in policy was made independently of the Iraq buildup.

But other Pentagon officials have acknowledged that additional Guard and Army Reserve units are essential to sustaining Bush's increase in combat forces in Iraq over the course of the year. The military likely will need to tap into the pool of previously deployed Guard units this fall to keep 20 combat brigades in Iraq, the level of the surge. Army Reserve units also are affected by the policy change.

"The reserve component (is) going to have to help bear the burden on the backside of this (buildup)," said a senior military official, discussing internal Pentagon decision-making on condition of anonymity. "I would presume by this time next year, we would be calling on our reserve component brigades to contribute in Iraq."

Gates also announced he has asked the president to expand the Army and Marine Corps by 92,000 troops, arguing the military's land forces must be increased to meet ongoing threats even beyond the Iraq campaign.

Under the plans, the Army will grow by 65,000 to 547,000 soldiers, the biggest it has been since the end of the Cold War, and the Marines will grow by 27,000 to 202,000. Like the new Guard policy, the decision to enlarge the size of the U.S. military's ground forces is a reversal for the Bush administration.

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld objected to expanding the Army and Marines, arguing it would be too costly. The administration's delay in making the decision means the expansion will not help alleviate the strain on the Army and Marines for several years, the amount of time it will take to reach the new limits.

"It will take some time for these new troops to become available for deployment," Gates said Thursday at a congressional hearing. "But it is important that our men and women in uniform know that additional manpower and resources are on the way."

The changes in policy came as the Army and Marine Corps formally notified five Army combat brigades that they were being rushed to Baghdad as part of Bush's plan to increase American forces in Iraq. One of the units, the 2nd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division, was already en route to Kuwait to serve as a backup unit, and now will be redirected to the Iraqi capital.

For each of the next four months, additional Army brigades scheduled to deploy to Iraq this year will head toward Baghdad ahead of schedule.

More than 200,000 guardsmen and reservists have left civilian life over the past five years to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan, and stand to be summoned back into active duty under the policy change. Of the more than 3,000 U.S. military deaths in Iraq, 383 have been soldiers from the Army National Guard, according to a research group that tracks military deaths online at icasualties.org. An additional 214 were Army and Marine reservists.

Pentagon officials have said that Guard units most likely to be called up in the next round of deployments are those that were among the first regiments sent to Iraq in 2003 and early 2004.

In an attempt to head off opposition to remobilizing Guard brigades, the Pentagon said it would reduce the length of time Guard units must serve if they are called up again. In previous deployments to Iraq, guardsmen frequently found themselves activated for as long as 18 months, including several months to organize and train and at least a year in the war zone.

Under the new policy, Guard units would be mobilized only for a year, meaning that they would likely spend nine or 10 months in Iraq once sent overseas. In addition, Pentagon officials said guardsmen would receive extra pay if forced to deploy a second time before they have spent five years at home.

The permanent troop increase and recalling of Guard and reserve units will not have an immediate impact on the surge of U.S. ground troops in Iraq, which Gates said Thursday would last only several months. But they would be vital to sustaining an escalation -- or even the regular rotation -- over the longer term. By January 2008, National Guard combat brigades are expected to be called up for the rotation to provide relief for active-duty combat brigades, including those involved in the current surge, Gates and other senior officials said.