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| In future, Nat'l Guard & Reserves to have shorter combat tours |
| 2007-01-25 |
| U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Speakes says members of the National Guard and Reserves will receive shorter combat tours in the future. Speakes, who is in charge of issues regarding U.S. Army resources, said those in such secondary military forces could soon find their combat tours nearly cut in half, Stars and Stripes reported. At present, troops in either unit are mobilized between 18 and 20 months, but Speakes said such soldiers would likely only spend between seven and 10 months deployed in combat. "We're saying that you will only get between seven and 10 months boots on the ground because we have to spend some of your (post-mobilization) time training you before we deploy you," he said. "How much of that we don't know." Speakes said those members of the U.S. Reserves and National Guard currently on active duty will not be given the shorter tours until the military force can adequately replace them, the paper said. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #2 In the aftermath of the first Gulf War, the Guard Bureau leverage its legislative influence to avoid the cuts and downsizing heaped upon the regular forces. As a consequence the regular forces not only faced reduced budgets by the late 90s but also had to carry unreduced guard units resulting in budget crunches and shortfalls in equipment, training, and maintenance. That in turn encourage many of the active military to hang it up. Check the enlistment and reenlistment and officer retention issues in the late 90s. The Guard placed itself in the position were there is no choice but to use it. It's that or they should have been ramping up a permanent increase in the active forces by 2002. Shorter tours. BS. Operational requirements will determine tours. When tours start dictating operations, you've lost it. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2007-01-25 16:03 |
| #1 That's good. I always thought of the Guard as short-term emergency troops. Mobilize, attack someplace, then demob. The regular Army should be doing to long-term occupations. I guess the Reserves should be in-between. |
| Posted by: Jackal 2007-01-25 08:16 |