U.S. Alerting More Troops for Iraq Duty
By Vicki Allen
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military on Wednesday night will begin ordering thousands of additional active duty and part-time National Guard and Reserve troops to prepare for service in Iraq (news - web sites) early next year, a senior Pentagon (news - web sites) general told Congress.
But Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stressed that the troops would be part of a 2004 Iraq rotation plan and that the 132,000 U.S. troops now there could actually decrease to just over 100,000 in May.
"We will be talking to Congress this afternoon and issuing orders tonight and having press briefings tomorrow on the next rotation of forces," Pace said at a hearing of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee. "It does include a call-up of reserves, it does include use of land forces, it does include the Navy and Air Force with their capabilities to participate."
Reserve and Guard troops are currently supporting regular U.S. military units in deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan (news - web sites) and elsewhere, which have put a strain on the U.S. armed forces.
Families of some of the part-time force members have expressed concern about disruptions to their lives caused by year-long deployments to Iraq.
Deadly guerrilla attacks against American forces have been increasing in Baghdad and other countries have not responded to a Pentagon call for a third multinational division to support U.S. troops there.
But Pace said that even if such a division was not forthcoming, American troops strength could decrease because thousands of Iraqi security forces were being trained.
The United States has already activated three National Guard combat brigades of about 5,000 troops each from North Carolina, Arkansas and Washington States to undergo training to go to Iraq early next year.
Pace told the committee that, in addition to larger active duty units expected to be notified for service in Iraq under the 2004 plan, large numbers of noncombat support troops from Guard and Reserve units would be called to duty. Such support troops include communications specialists, logistics soldiers, medics and military police |
