Army stretched thin by war

We’re hearing more and more these days about our ‘broken Army.’ That phrase, reminiscent of the Vietnam War era, is used to characterize the wear and tear of war on the United States Army.

Whether the Army is ‘broken’ or not depends on how you measure it. Clearly, the war in Iraq has taken a heavy toll on the Army’s resources, including our most precious one ‘ the men and women who have fought there and continue to do so, despite the loss of public support for the war.

Still, re-enlistments are high, even among the combat units who have served repetitive tours in Iraq, notably the famed 101st Airborne Division, whose brave soldiers have recently seen more of Baghdad than Fort Campbell, Ky. Our top commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus proudly wears the ‘Screaming Eagle’ division patch on his right shoulder, signifying his combat service in Iraq as the 101st Airborne Division Commanding General.

Gen. Petraeus is no stranger to repetitive tours in Iraq. He leads by example on his third tour there. He assumed command of the Multi-National Force-Iraq on Feb. 10, 2007. He quickly took charge of the so-called ‘surge’ strategy [erroneously called a ‘tactic’ by militarily benighted presidential hopeful Barack Obama]. In the following four months, roughly 30,000 U.S. soldiers and Marines joined the some 130,000 U.S. forces already deployed in Iraq.

Almost 15 months into his third tour in Iraq, Gen. Petraeus has returned to his post there, following marathon testimony on Capitol Hill and a flurry of multimedia interviews. As the Bush administration’s most recognizable ‘public face’ on the controversial surge strategy, Gen. Petraeus is both architect of, and credible witness to, the apparent success of the surge in achieving its goal of reversing the rise in violence, enough to increase the prospects for unifying a deeply divided Iraqi national government.

As Gen. Petraeus has repeatedly cautioned, the gains made during the surge are substantial, but reversible. Moreover, the Iraqi national government has yet to prove it can match the surge success with victories of its own in terms of national reconciliation that leads to real diplomatic, political, social and economic progress in Iraq.

Meanwhile, the United States Army continues to bear the brunt of U.S. combat action in Iraq. That includes repetitive combat tours. Fortunately, some relief is on the way, at least in terms of the length of those tours. On April 10, President Bush announced that active Army soldiers will return to 12-month deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan or anywhere else in the Central Command area of operations beginning this Aug. 1. However, soldiers already in the combat zone, as well as those deploying before Aug. 1, should expect 15-month deployments.

Along with the return home of the surge forces, 12-month combat tours are a welcome sign, intended help the Army accomplish its many combat missions, with due regard for providing more time at home for soldiers and their families. However, it will not solve the larger problems of a stretched thin Army that is not yet broken, but may be badly bent. More on those problems later.

Retired Army Col. Thomas B. Vaughn can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].