Hmmm...
Army's Troop Sources Depleted
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
January 16, 2005
The Army may not be scraping the bottom of the manpower barrel yet, but critics say the service is coming dangerously close.
Defense analysts and veterans advocates say the Army's renewed efforts to encourage retired soldiers to return to active duty is an indication it is being stretched thin and worn out.
"The Army basically has run out of options," said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute, a Washington think tank.
Steve Robinson, executive director of the National Gulf War Resource Center, a veterans advocacy group in Washington, said the Army is now dipping into its last pool of resources.
"The only thing they have left is the draft," said Robinson, a former Army Ranger.
But Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, a Pentagon spokesman, said the recruitment of retirees "is a prudent use of America's resources."
Since Sept. 11, 2001, more than 12,000 retired soldiers have volunteered to return to active duty, he said.
"But we have to match their desires, skills, experience, physical condition and time out of service with our requirements, so currently only about 300 are on active duty," Hilferty said.
This is the latest of three efforts by the Army to keep its ranks filled as commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan have kept many soldiers running from deployment to deployment.
The initial plan to stop the manpower drain was the stop-loss policy, whereby the Army can keep soldiers in uniform beyond the expiration of their active-duty contract.
As of Jan. 1, more than 12,000 soldiers were under stop-loss orders, including 6,657 on active duty, Hilferty said.
Last year the Pentagon began recalling Individual Ready Reserve soldiers. They are soldiers who have fulfilled their active-duty contract but remain eligible for recall for up to eight years after enlistment. Just under 4,000 Ready Reserves received mobilization orders.
The Army is also offering large bonuses to soldiers who re-enlist overseas, tripling bonuses for new enlistees and keeping troops in Iraq 15 months instead of the usual 12.
But the war effort in Iraq is slowly wearing down the Army, Thompson said.
"Most of the indicators point to the conclusion that the Army can't sustain its current level of activity in Iraq," he said.
Thompson said he believed the Jan. 30 elections in Iraq would play a critical role in how the Army approaches its manpower shortage in the short term.
If the elections are reasonably successful, he believes the administration will likely redouble its commitment to making the strategy in Iraq work. That could mean an increase in active-duty troop strength from just under 500,000 now to over 600,000.
If the elections go badly, the administration will have to make a fundamental reassessment of what is achievable in Iraq, he said.
http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,FL_army_011605,00.html
