Gates: Army tours extended by three months

Gates: Army tours extended by three months

www.cnn.com

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Tours of duty for members of the U.S. Army will be extended from 12 months to 15 months effective immediately, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Wednesday.

"What we're trying to do here is provide some long-term predictability to our soldiers and their families," Gates told reporters at the Pentagon.

In exchange for the extension, Gates said the service will be able to give all units a year at home between deployments.

He denied the order was a sign that the Army has passed its breaking point under the stresses of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying the service has met or passed its recruiting and retention goals.

But he added that the military has been "stretched" by the conflicts.

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Well this has got to be disappointing to some of our soldiers and their families. It also raises questions about whether the Army is stretched too thin.

I know our troops will make the best of it, but I suspect support for the war will diminish within the families of those soldiers who are also being strained.

www.cnn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

When I went into the Army I was told that we could have our tours changed depending on the needs of our country. While this is indeed unfortunate and stressful for the soldiers and families, it is not a surprise. This is discussed with recruits when they sign up.

One thing that surprises me is that Gates made this announcement so public. I don't think Rumsfeld would have been so open.

I know that now it is common to do more than one tour of duty, but have there ever been tours longer than a year before? I have not heard of that before.

I posted this earlier but no one commented.

Originally posted by MikeboydUS
I posted this earlier but no one commented.

Sorry, I didn't see your earlier thread.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

It seems that no-one is interested in this anyway.

I guess Macavity the cat is getting all the attention.