Nearly half of US military forces have yet to see action in Iraq or Afghanistan
Brett
45 percent of Marines, 37 percent of Army used elsewhere, yet to
deploy
The Associated Press
Updated: 9:02 p.m. MT June 1, 2007
WASHINGTON - Even as troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are serving longer
and more often - three, four, even five times - roughly half of
Americans in uniform have not been sent at all.
That's partly chance, partly a matter of timing. It also illustrates
the massive organization on the home front to support an army in the
field.
Whatever the reason, it didn't seem fair to Marine Sgt. Matthew Clark,
who sits behind a desk in Illinois but has asked to "go to the fight"
instead.
"All these other Marines are going - they've been a couple times,"
said Clark, who's been in the service since 1998. "It's about time
that I get out there and give someone else the opportunity to stay
home."
The 28-year-old logistics officer at Scott Air Force Base will get his
chance - he recently got orders to transfer this summer to a unit
going early next year to Iraq.
Clark is among some 1,000 reassigned for deployment since Marine
Commandant Gen. James T. Conway issued a policy message early this
year called "Every Marine into the Fight."
"When they join our Corps, Marines expect to train, deploy and fight,"
Conway said in the January message. "That's who we are. That's what we
do."
Looking at the numbers
By this spring, roughly 150,000 active-duty soldiers, 85,000 sailors,
90,000 airmen and 65,000 Marines had gone more than once to Iraq,
Afghanistan or surrounding countries. About half the total force had
not deployed to either conflict, Defense Department figures show.
Fifty-three percent of the active-duty Air Force and 50 percent of the
Navy had not been to the wars, not surprising since the fighting is
overwhelmingly on the ground.
Still, the United States military is the second largest in the world,
With some 1.5 million members, (making it second only to China).
Despite it's size however, critics argue that only 45 percent of the
Marines and 37 percent of Army forces has ever been deployed into Iraq
or Afghanistan.
There are many reasons:
. The military is an ever-morphing body, with people coming in and
going out constantly. The four branches recruited about 180,000 just
last year - meaning there are always new people still in training.
. The U.S. military has one of the longest and most extensive training
programs of any armed force in the world. This is particularly true of
the Army and Marines whose recruits must master not only traditional,
high tech maneuver warfare, but must also complete the mandatory
jungle, desert, and arctic warfare classes. In addition to these
standard courses, soldiers are now also required to excel in new
programs designed to teach counter-insurgency, counter-terrorisim, and
urban combat warfare.
. Though the two wars are the biggest Pentagon efforts, there are tens
of thousands of forces in other parts of the world, from Korea to the
Philippines to Africa. Some duty is three years - such as Marine tours
in Japan - meaning a Marine might train, then serve a tour in Okinawa
and not have much time left in the enlistment contract for another
assignment.
Some skills aren't in demand in the war zone: Purchasing, personnel,
maintenance, training and administration, for example.
"There are a lot of folks doing God's work right here stateside that
are invaluable to the people overseas," said Col. Daniel Baggio, an
Army spokesman. "The spirit of the Army is really that folks want to
do their part ... in any way they can. ... They go where they're told
to go."
Just a matter of time?
Anyone who stays in for more than one enlistment can pretty much count
on going overseas.
"We like to say there are three kinds of soldiers: those that are
deployed, those that have been deployed and those that are going to be
deployed," Baggio said.
Comparisons with previous wars are hard to make because of differences
in the types of conflicts, the makeup and size of the forces of the
era and other factors.
In World War II, 2 million of the 4.6 million in the U.S. military
went overseas, according to National Defense University research.
When the number of troops in Vietnam peaked at more than half a
million in 1968, the Army had more divisions deployed in Southeast
Asia than it has in its 10-division force today. The military shrank
for decades after that war, the draft was abolished and the
professional, all-volunteer force started.
Now, there are almost 220,000 troops, airmen and sailors serving in
the Iraq and Afghan campaigns - 150,000 in Iraq, 28,000 in Afghanistan
and 40,000 in neighboring countries and on ships offshore.
Stretched thin by years of war, the Pentagon announced in April that
it was adding three months to the standard yearlong tour for all
active-duty soldiers in both conflicts. Marines still do seven-month
tours.
Conway's January order directed leaders to change policies "to ensure
all Marines, first termers and career Marines alike, are provided the
ability to deploy to a combat zone."
Since then, officials have been identifying people who haven't
deployed, looking at assignment lengths and making needed changes,
said Lt. Col. Kevin Schmiegel of the Marine assignments office.
Dakota Wood, a retired Marine and fellow at the Center for Strategic
and Budgetary Assessments, said it's a good idea.
The Marine Corps is a "war-fighting-oriented organization," Wood said.
"People join the Marines to be operational. That's the kind of person
you're drawing; they're looking for excitement, engagement."
You don't get those things, Wood said in a football analogy, "if the
same 11 guys take the field and you keep sitting on the bench."
There are inevitably some people who don't want to go, who are
suspected of manufacturing a health problem or maneuvering into a job
that will help them stay put, Pentagon officials say privately. In
fact, there are those who like their location or work and don't want
any of the moves that can come with military life.
People in the military call them "homesteaders." One is said to have
worked in Washington his entire 17 years in the service and never been
deployed anywhere.
As for Clark's move from Scott AFB, he saw Conway speak at a town hall
meeting in March and asked how a Marine in his position could deploy.
Within weeks, word of his transfer arrived.
His new job will be operations chief in a unit that schedules aircraft
and crew for missions and training.
The Lakewood, Wash., native - with a 17-month-old son of his own -
said his parents don't want him to go, "but they understand. Because
of my job, they're going to accept it."
And his wife Christine's thoughts on his leaving?
"She's OK with it," Clark said. "She understands why."