Casey: Army needs 3 to 4 years to recover from war

[RamboLiberal]

Source: USA Today

The Army's top officer said Friday it will take three to four years to put the Army back in balance after seven years of war.
"Right now, the Army is out of balance. We're stretched and stretched by the fact that we didn't have a big enough Army to do the things the nation is asking us to do since Sept. 11," said Gen. George Casey, the Army's chief of staff. "Once you are off track it takes a long time to put it back together."

Casey met with a handful of reporters at Fort Bragg. The four-star general visited the Army base to attend a retirement ceremony for Gen. Dan K. McNeill. Casey also visited with paratroopers and families at several "town hall" style meetings.

Casey became the 36th Chief of Staff of the Army last year. During his first appearance in front of Congress in September, he said the Army was stretched so thin by the war in Iraq that it cannot adequately respond to another conflict.

Many of the paratroopers Casey met Friday at Fort Bragg are on their second and third deployment to both Iraq and Afghanistan.



Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2008-06-20-army_N.htm

[babylonsister]

1. Is this during or after we get out of Iraq? Maybe Casey isn't

buying this 100 year thing.

[1Hippiechick]

2. Wonder how McCain thinks we can maintain a long-term war? Shrinking enlistees....

[pscot]

3. Try 20 years

Half the people in active service will never be fit for combat again except in the most dire emergency. It's going to take a generation to unwind this, as it did after 'Nam.

[Kolesar]

8. Or France after "The Great War"

...that maimed or killed millions of their vital young men. All's quiet on the western front.

[anitar1]

4. my thought. As the economy worsens

more young people will be enlisting.Jobs are much harder to find now. My grandson goes to school and has always been able to find a part time. He has been out of work for 4 months and despite all the searching, he cannot find a job.

[AndyTiedye]

7. An Enlistment Now is a Life Sentence Though

Everyone knows now that if you enlist, they'll never let you out until you're too messed-up to fight anymore.

Even if you can't find work, how desperate do you have to be to sign up for that?

[liberal N proud]

5. That's keeping us safer

What a scary thought. Our military can not protect us.

[Solly Mack]

6. Piffle...longer

[trusty elf]

9. Heck of a strategery to start another one with Iran.

:thumbsup:

[NMDemDist2]

10. and how many billions of $$??

can we stop the military madness now? spend some of that money on infrastructure now?

[MsLeopard]

11. Remember all the screaming about Clinton

"breaking our military" that spewed forth from right wing pundits and the "librul" media in the late 90s? Over and over and over again, all the evils of the world were pinned on Bill, and breaking the military stood at the top of the list, right after receiving a BJ in the WH. Now we have a**holes that have truly broken and trashed our military, and hardly a word is heard from the so-called opposition party or corporate owned M$M profitting off the Georgie's misadventure. Even now, it's called "out of balance." Oh, please.....

[Frances]

12. Remember in 2000

how Georgie Porgie went around saying about the military, "Help is on the way." Some help.

[Kolesar]

15. And the military clapped and cheered at the "change of command" ceremony(s)

Didn't work out. Army needs a new commercial slogan now.

[tuckessee]

13. They can't even win the wars they start.

Maybe they should stick with Grenada-sized opponents.

[Ian David]

14. Why does The Army Chief of Staff General George Casey hate our troops? n/t