Army aiming to double dwell time

[unhappycamper]

Army aiming to double dwell time
By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Tuesday, April 22, 2008

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Army hopes to give soldiers two years at home in between combat tours by the end of fiscal 2011, the Army’s deputy chief of staff for operations said Monday.

Right now, soldiers get about 12 months at home, known as dwell time.

President Bush announced earlier this month that Army tours to the U.S. Central Command theater of operations would go from 15 months to 12 months, which will begin to give soldiers the same amount of dwell time as they spend deployed.

But the active-duty Army is slated to grow to 547,000 by the end of fiscal 2011, and that would allow the Army to give soldiers more time at home, said Lt. Gen James D. Thurman.

At that time, the Army expects to have 15 active-duty Army brigade combat teams deployed — not including National Guard brigades — compared with 17 active-duty brigade combat teams deployed now, Thurman told reporters on Monday.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=54229