US may increase Iraq force by delaying departures

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N26230891.htm

WASHINGTON, July 26 (Reuters) - The U.S. military, faced with unrelenting violence in Baghdad, is expected to delay the departure of about 4,000 troops due to leave Iraq in the coming days in order to boost the size of the U.S. force, officials said on Wednesday.

In a sign that any significant cut in the 130,000-strong U.S. force in Iraq is unlikely soon, officials also said there are no plans to drop below the current level of 15 combat brigades this fall, as had previously been discussed.

The military, as it has been done periodically during the 3-year-old war, would temporarily increase the size of the U.S. force by extending the overlap between newly arriving units and those leaving.

A defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions, said at least 200 troops from the Alaska-based 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, operating primarily in the Mosul area in northern Iraq, already had left Iraq after a yearlong deployment.

[Purveyor]

1. This should do wonders for 'troop morale'... n/t

[NNN0LHI]

3. Re-enlistment is way up

http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,104170,00.html

101st Airborne Division Sets Re-enlistment Record

Army News Service | Jeanine Kinville | July 05, 2006

Tikrit, Iraq - Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division from Fort Campbell, Ky., currently deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, have exceeded the retention goal for the 2006 fiscal year three months before its end. They have achieved the highest number of reenlistments for any active-duty division in the Army.

More than $60 million in reenlistment bonuses have been awarded to approximately 4,600 Soldiers, said Sgt. Maj. Steven Sabinash, 101st command career counselor. The fiscal year goals for initial-term, mid-career and career-level Soldiers continue to surpass the mission goal each day.

“One out of every four Soldiers deployed have reenlisted so far,” Sabinash said. “Approximately 61.5 percent of those Soldiers have chosen to stabilize with the 101st, which exceeds the average 30 percent a division usually retains.”

The division’s Screaming Eagles are still reenlisting at a steady rate while deployed, and have helped the division reach an important milestone set forth by the Army.

[TomInTib]

2. More stop-loss

This is exactly what they were hoping to avoid before the mid-terms.