SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii - The Army's new chief of staff said Saturday he
wants to accelerate by two years a plan to increase the nation's active duty
soldiers by 65,000.
US
Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey speaks to the spouses of military
personnel while visiting Schofield Barracks in Wahiwa, Hawaii, Saturday,
April 28, 2007, during a tour of Army bases in the Pacific. Casey says he
wants to accelerate a plan to increase the number of active duty soldiers
by 65,000 in five years. Gen. George Casey says he wants those soldiers
ready by 2010 instead of 2012. [AP]
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The Army has set 2012 as its target date
for a force expansion to 547,000 troops, but Gen. George Casey said he told his
staff to have the soldiers ready earlier.
"I said that's too long. Go back and tell me what it would take to get it
done faster," he said in an interview with The Associated Press during a stop in
Hawaii.
Casey became the Army chief of staff on April 12 after serving as the top US
commander in Iraq for two-and-a-half years. He visited Hawaii for a few days in
a Pacific region tour to talk with soldiers and their families. He next heads to
Japan, South Korea and Alaska.
Casey said his staff has submitted a proposal for the accelerated timeline
but that he has yet to approve the plan. He said the Army was stretched and
would remain that way until the additional troops were trained and equipped.
Casey told a group of soldiers' spouses that one of his tasks is to try to
limit the impact of the strain on soldiers and their families.
"We live in a difficult period for the Army because the demand for our forces
exceeds the supply," he said.
A woman in the group asked Casey if her husband's deployments would stop
getting longer. She said they used to last for six months in the 1990s but then
started lasting 9 months and 12 months. Two weeks ago, she heard the Army's
announcement that deployments would be extended as long as 15 months.
"Do you honestly foresee this spiral, in effect, stopping?" she asked.
Casey said the Army wants to keep deployments to 15 months, but "I cannot
look at you in the eye and guarantee that it would not go beyond."
Defense Secretary Robert Gates in January said he was recommending to the
president that the Army boost its active duty soldiers by 65,000 to 547,000.
Casey said about 35,000 of those additional soldiers are already in place.
Gates also recommended that the Marine Corps increase its active duty force
by 27,000 to 202,000.