Dados de DOD: Mais forçado para permanecer no exército
Quarta-feira, abril 23o, 2008
Por Ribeiro de Tom Vanden |
O exército acelerou sua política de extensões involuntary do dever para bolster o ano passado seus níveis da tropa, apesar ordem das portas de Robert da secretária da defesa' para limitá-la, mostra dos registros do Pentagon.
As portas dirigiram o presidente dos chefes dos empregados comuns e as secretárias do serviço minimizar extensões imperativas da excursão, sabidos como do “a perda batente,” em janeiro 2007. Por maio, o número dos soldados afetados pela política tinha deixado cair a um ponto baixo three-year de 8.540.
Desde então, o número dos soldados forçados a remanescer no exército levantou-se 43% a 12.235 em março. O reliance na perda do batente aumentou enquanto as forças armadas emitiram mais tropas a Iraq e excursões estendidas a 15 meses à sustentação um escalation em ESTADOS UNIDOS. forças requisitadas pelo presidente Bush. O aumento último mês foi dirigido pela necessidade emitir soldados de um protetor mais nacional a Iraq.
Os soldados afetados pela perda do batente servem agora, na média, uns 6.6 meses extra, secretária de imprensa Geoff do Pentagon Morrell dito. Os líderes chaves no nível da pequeno-unidade - sergeants através da primeira classe dos sergeants - compõem 45% daqueles soldados. Os soldados alistam-se tipicamente para stints four-year.
A “secretária que as portas compreendem os poses da perda do batente do hardship a nossas tropas e suas famílias, mas ele compreende também a necessidade manter unidades cohesive no campo de batalha durante todo a distribuição,” Morrell dito. As “tropas que treinaram junto e lutaram junto devem remanescer junto.”
A tendência é alarming, disse o representante. Christopher Shays, R-Conexão., que escreveu uma letra abril em 17 às portas que incitam o “nos termos os mais fortes” à perda do batente de limite.
O ano passado, Shays e outros três membros da casa escreveram a portas um provérbio que similar da letra foi concernido sobre usar a política bolster forças para o surge so-called. Fere o morale, os burdens agrupam-se' famílias, danificam-se o credibility de líderes militares e ameaçam-se recrutar, eles escreveram.
A perda do batente pode manter um soldado no serviço se sua ou sua unidade se desdobrar dentro de 90 dias do fim do compromisso do soldado. É necessário, o exército diz, manter a integridade das unidades dirigidas para guerrear. Em tudo, 58.300 soldados foram afetados pela perda do batente desde 2002, de acordo com o exército. That’s about 1% of active duty, Reserve and National Guard troops. For the 3rd Infantry Division, which is responsible for a portion of Iraq south of Baghdad, about 1,500 of its 22,500 soldiers is serving under stop loss, according to Maj. Alayne Conway.
Shays said the nation needs a bigger Army. In the meantime, he urges the Pentagon to press more personnel from the Air Force and Navy into Army jobs.
PENTAGON MEMO:Army’s response to minimizing stop loss (pdf)
The policy shows the Army is “unraveling a bit” while “under tremendous strain,” said Rep. Joe Sestak, a Pennsylvania Democrat and retired vice admiral. Sestak, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said relying on stop loss could be masking problems the Army is having with recruiting.
“We don’t have the individual in terms of quality or quantity to take that next individual’s place so that he could finish his tour and go home,” Sestak said. “This is five years into the war. I don’t think this is insignificant.”
James Martin, a social work professor at Bryn Mawr College and retired Army colonel, said stop loss is the result of an Army that’s too small to meet its commitments in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Sergeants are often most affected.
“These are the guys who bear the brunt of it,” Martin said. “They just get put back into the grinder continually.”
In January 2007, Gates wrote to secretaries of the services and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that included a directive to submit plans to “minimize the use of Stop Loss.” In reply, then-Army secretary Francis Harvey wrote that the Army would pay soldiers facing stop loss $300 extra per month “to extend their enlistment to complete their deployment.”
PENTAGON MEMO: Gates addresses stop loss (pdf)
Harvey wrote that the plan “could reduce the number of soldiers affected by (stop loss) by as much as 50%.” Soldiers who didn’t take the pay, he added, would still be subject to involuntary extension.
Lt. Gen. James Thurman, Pentagon deputy chief of staff for operations, said Monday he hoped the Army could put a stop to mandatory extensions by fall 2009.
Although some soldiers say they understand the reasons for stop loss, it doesn’t boost morale, said Robert Sauder, 24, a staff sergeant who was involuntarily retained in 2006 when he was preparing to leave the service. By then, he’d spent 13 months in Afghanistan. Then he spent 15 months in Iraq.
Sauder, of Baroda, Mich., said he “was pretty sour about the whole situation.”
Near Kirkuk, he and his comrades dodged rockets, mortars and roadside bombs. “It ended up pretty good for me and my guys. We made it back alive.”
See More:USA NewsHave Your Say: DOD data: More forced to stay in Army
Please note, only selected comments will be published.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008at 3:09 amand is filed under War & Terrorism News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Free Newsletter
Loading ...Related News
- US soldiers to stay longer in Iraq
- Prince Harry decision causes fury
- Pentagon alerts 35,000 soldiers for Iraq deployment
- US recruiting under diploma soldiers
- Bush promises more troops for Afghanistan
Latest Headlines
- Question For RINF Users: Do You Want a Forum?
- Students Skip Class For Obama Event, Get Suspended
- Olympic protest movement turns its sights on to sponsors
- Gitmo Torture Orders Came From The Top
- Feds to require visitors’ fingerprints when they leave US
- Police: DNA database ready as early as next year
- Murdoch to buy New York rival
- Chertoff Says Fingerprints Aren’t ‘Personal Data’
- MEPs to keep audit of wage abuse secret
- DOD data: More forced to stay in Army
More Breaking News
Archive