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Politics

General says lengthening tours of duty is risky

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published August 15, 2007

WASHINGTON - The Army's top general said Tuesday that lengthening U.S. tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan beyond the current 15 months would be too stressful and risky for troops.

Gen. George Casey, the Army's chief of staff, also said he didn't know when officials would be able to cut the length of soldiers' tours back to 12 months.

"I don't see going beyond the 15 months," Casey said. "I've been there in Iraq, I've watched the nature of the combat and the stresses and strains that it puts on these soldiers."

He said the 90-day extension ordered by officials earlier this year can pass quickly, but staying longer would hurt troops.

"Any more than that, it puts our soldiers at a level of stress and a level of risk that right now I'm not comfortable with," he told reporters in an appearance at the National Press Club.

In an often blunt assessment of the state of the Army, Casey acknowledged that the long and repeated battlefield tours have knocked the Army out of balance, so it can no longer provide ready forces as quickly as it should for other missions.

Before taking over as chief of the Army earlier this year, Casey was the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

Casey had words of caution for members of Congress, some of whom have been clamoring for the Pentagon to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq and have proposed requiring the Army to give units returning home from Iraq at least a year or more of a break before another deployment.

"We prefer not to be limited or restricted by any kind of congressional action," he said. "Any external restrictions that are put on just compound the complexity of the task and make it even harder for us to do that."

Casey returned Sunday from a trip to Iraq and Afghanistan, visiting with commanders and troops. And he said he believes the additional U.S. forces are improving security there.

The Army vice chief of staff, Gen. Richard Cody, said earlier Tuesday that troops may be facing the longer deployments at least until June. Cody said it would take at least until then to return average deployments to 12 months while maintaining the roughly 160,000 troops in Iraq.

"It's going to take awhile to get off the 15 months," he said in an interview at Fort Hood, Texas.

[Last modified August 15, 2007, 01:41:20]