Obama extends combat tours of some troops
Fox News announces that some troops have had their combat tours in Afghanistan extended by the Obama Administration;
Members of the 82nd Airborne Division headquarters serving in Afghanistan have been told their tours will be extended by 52 days from 12 months to nearly 14 months.
Hundreds of officers and non-commissioned soldiers were told this weekend that they would have to stay longer so that their replacements in the 101st Airborne Division could have 12 months at home — a sign at how stretched the forces remain.
In case you’re wondering what Democrats said when President Bush did the same thing (Washington Post);
“The Army has attempted in vain to stabilize a rotational scheme for an unstable and open-ended strategy,” said Carl M. Levin (Mich.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “Once again, the failures of this administration are being underwritten by our troops.”
Rep. Ike Skelton (Mo.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said the new policy will have “a chilling effect on recruiting, retention and readiness.”
Obama also criticized Bush for extending combat tours – but I guess that was before he realized that the real world is different from the rhetorical flourishes of a campaign.
Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Military issues, Terror War
Awwww, da poor widdle pawwatwoopers.:( I was deployed 33 months in a 48 month stretch. Eleven in Kosovo and then 22 months (16 straight in the desert) for Iraq. And there was only ten months between the two. Boo Hoo. I won’t even mention that that was as a soldier in the Minnesota National Guard… RedBulls!
Sgt. K thanks for your service, but I don’t hear the 82nd. troopers whinning about their situation.
Yup, concur. I don’t hear the 82nd screaming about being extended. I remember being extended from 12 months to 18 months back in the 70’s and that was during the cold war. You sign your name and you take your chances. If it’s too much for you, then you ought to consider another line of work.
Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines are expendable items.
My own son is looking at an extended deployment. I told him the same thing I’d tell anyone else. It is what it is. You suck it up and follow orders.
respects,
Jonn, I’d take gentle issue with your closing paragraph. Although I’ll admit it raises a question. Can one use ‘real world’ and Obama in a meaningFUL sentence? Seems like you’d need to apply any number of qualifiers… thus making ‘real world’ meaningLESS.
Once again, the troops are left to “embrace the suck.”
Sgt K, while I appreciate your experience, keep in mind that just possibly one or more of the 82nd troopers may develop problems during this extension. Your post seems to say to them “Well I was tough enough to make it, what’s the matter with you?’ I’ve found that attitude in some Nam vets. That leads to those troopers saying “Well I’ll just tough it out, he made it by himself, I can too.”
Meanwhile a lot of effort is being put into trying to convince those that need help to step forward and ask. Making that decision is a lot tougher when some of their buddies are making fun of them for being weak.
If there is any negative blow-back from this, you’ll never hear about it. But the Soldiers speak the loudest when they don’t re-up. What people don’t see right now is the large number of people who just say that they’ve had enough and they leave. Really guys, how many decades can we expect to deploy guys before they go look for work elsewhere? They know this shit will never end, and for many guys, family is more important than the Army.
The opinion of the American people has already turned against the war in Afghanistan. Obama will try to get the USA out a.s.a.p.certainly before the next election. My guess is that he will blame the victims, the people of Afghanistan, as being unworthy of our efforts. Their election was a sham and Kabul is hopelessly corrupt.