The Roman Legions may have had a better rotation.
times daily logo www.TimesDaily.com Oct 23, 2007
Mullen Gets Blunt Questions About Iraq
By LOLITA C. BALDOR
Associated Press Writer
FORT SILL, Okla. Army captains who represent the military’s future pelted the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff with blunt questions Tuesday about the strain of long war deployments.
The officers, who are students in the Artillery Captain’s Career Course at Fort Sill, also asked about recruiting pressures that could leave them supervising more soldiers with discipline problems.
At times technical and other times very personal, the officers reflected the worries of a military struggling to fight two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan without exhausting troops, alienating their families or driving soldiers away.
Navy Adm. Michael Mullen, four weeks into the new job, didn’t have all the answers - or the ones they were hoping for, during a 90-minute forum. But in his first trip to get to know the Army better, Mullen collected e-mail addresses and promised fuller responses later.
The long and repeated battlefield deployments were a prime topic.
One year at war and one year back at home “is not good enough” one officer flatly told Mullen, setting the tone early for the discussion.
After explaining that the Pentagon is hoping to stretch the time at home to 15 months for every year deployed, then go to two years at home and then three, Mullen acknowledged those goals are years down the road.
“I got it - that it’s not good enough,” said Mullen. “I take your point, that one-to-one is not good enough.”
Asked if overall time in combat should be capped, Mullen cautiously replied that battlefield experience is crucial, but he agreed that “there are limits beyond which you will not stay.”
Mullen, a career naval officer, has said he is concerned about the effects of the wars on the Army. He’s visiting three Army bases in Oklahoma and Kansas this week and meeting recruiters at a conference in Denver