Stars and Stripes: General: 15-month tours won’t be extended

[babylonsister]

http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=46988

General: 15-month tours won’t be extended


By Joseph Giordono, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Thursday, June 28, 2007

No Army units currently deployed to Iraq will have their already-extended 15 month tours prolonged even further to 18 months, a top U.S. military official said Wednesday.

In an early morning video-teleconference with family members at Fort Bliss and Fort Hood, Texas, Brig. Gen. Vincent K. Brooks — the deputy commander of 1st Cavalry Division and Multi-National Division–Baghdad — also defended the decision to extend what were yearlong combat tours.

“We are still in an Army that has to be responsive to whatever our nation calls us to do,” Brooks said in a news release about the teleconference. “The nature of a deployment beyond 12 months means that everybody will miss two of ‘something special’ dates, and I know that, for many of you, this is yet another in a lengthening series of missing something special dates.”

“This stage in a long deployment can be very challenging, and the uncertainty associated with extended deployments adds to that.”

The press release quoted Brooks as saying “no units who are currently deployed will be extended beyond 15 months, period.”

Military officials said Brooks and division officials were responding to a “media-provoked rumor” of an extension.

more...

[wakeme2008]

1. Brooks is a One Star General and is the Army version of

Snow-job. "PR" man.

Plus I do not like his wordsmithing.

"No Army units currently deployed to Iraq "

“no units who are currently deployed "

[Debau2005]

2. Which means

they'll bring them home for a few months, and then send them back, starting a new deployment that CAN last 18 months.

My significant other is 4 years short of reaching 20 years. His current term is up in the National Guard in August of this year. He is getting out. He served a year in Iraq, saw 3 of his fellow soldiers killed and won a Bronze Star. He has PTSD, and has found that the VA waiting lists are so long that he will never get an appointment to see anyone.

He got home to find that Delta had cut his pay when they went into bankruptcy, and he is still not back to what he was making before. He also did not get the full "bonus" that other employees got when they emerged from bankruptcy, because it was based on last year's salary, and HE WAS IN IRAQ! Supposedly Delta is giving the Iraq vets a bonus for their service...I think this is to keep it out of the news.

The Pentagon and the current administration is breaking the military. It will take us a lot of years to recover from this!

[wakeme2008]

3. Bingo

these statements by a ONE STAR just smells to high heaven. When things change he will just use the old "I was not in the Loop".

Thanks for the info on Delta :)

[peacebird]

4. got to love the way we "support" our troops

:sarcasm:

hope your SO finds help and relief for his PTSD somehow. It's beyond criminal that our troops can't get the medical treatments they deserve. :hug: