OPINION

General Says Shorten Army Combat Tours to 9 Months

Townhall Staff
Townhall Staff  |  Jun 20, 2011
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WASHINGTON – To fight the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Army has sent its troops on 12-month deployments to the combat zones, sometimes with not even a full year back home before being ordered off to fight again. Some soldiers even served 15-month stints.

Acknowledging that an exhausted ground force needs time to rest, retrain — and re-examine its mission and core values — the Army’s top officer has pledged that the service will develop plans to shorten combat tours to nine months, with 18 months between missions.