Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced Monday that the Army plans to add an additional 22,000 troops to its ranks, growing to 569,000 soldiers. The force will be the largest it has been since the 572,000 in 1993, during the post-Cold War reduction in force, but far below the 1.57 million soldiers under arms in 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War. Full Story »
Posted by Samuel W. Velsor IV
Bringing to light the effect the rising numbers of injured on the duty roles is vital that this be brought to the light of (every) day.
The planned troop increase has much more to do with the number of men and women who have been wounded than with those who have been killed. In times of war, the wounded always outnumber the dead, and many wounded warriors stay on active duty while they are recovering and sometimes afterward. The number of support personnel taking care of the wounded also has increased. This creates a large number of active-duty soldiers, perhaps 10,000, who are not deployable, thus decreasing the size of the force that can be sent overseas. The planned increase will help offset this development and relieve some of the stress on the force.
A most important fact that I’m sure has been overlooked.
The increase is also needed because more people want to stay in the Army. The Army already has met its re-enlistment goals for the fiscal year and is limiting re-enlistment options for some soldiers. This means veteran troops who want to remain in the force are being turned away. When these soldiers return to civilian life, the active force loses the investment it made in their training and, more important, the practical experience they gained overseas. Being able to retain more of these seasoned troops will save money and no doubt save lives.
The lose of men we need it is vital we stop this loss.
Maybe I am not the most informed, but this article brought to light a lot of things that for sure were not in the front of my thoughts on the wars. That the current cap was causing us to lose men we needed- there was no room; that the injured pool was counted the same as fit troops when you do the over all count. Am so proud of the reinlistment numbers.