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Troops to stay assignment seven years Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/7913612.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/7913612.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp Posted on Mon, Feb. 09, 2004 U.S. Army to keep troops in one place longer By DREW BROWN Knight Ridder Newspapers WASHINGTON - Army officials unveiled plans Monday to keep first-term soldiers in their units for more than twice as long as they do now, a move they say will hone units better for combat while providing more stability for soldiers' families. Under the plan, called "home-basing," soldiers will remain in their first assignments as long as seven years, if they re-enlist, instead of the current three-year average. That means new privates could expect to stay at the same post until they reach the rank of staff sergeant and serve as squad leaders. Freshly commissioned lieutenants would remain until they make captain and serve as company commanders or equivalents. It also means soldiers would be in their assignments long enough to purchase homes; they would be able to keep their children in the same schools longer and could establish other roots in the community. "The focus of this program," said Brig. Gen. Sean J. Byrne, the Army's director of personnel policy, "is to increase readiness and stability for the fighting force and predictability for family members." Byrne said more young soldiers were married and had families than ever before. The move comes as the Army faces a possible retention crisis, with 130,000 troops set to return from Iraq over the next few months, and as Army officials plan to lift a "stop-loss" measure next year that has prevented many soldiers who've reached the end of their enlistments from getting out. The measure also comes as the Army is reorganizing its 10 divisions to boost the number of combat brigades from 33 to 48 over the next few years. Byrne said the Army intended to use the home-basing measure as part of a broader effort beginning next September to staff the new brigades and to even out troop rotations in existing ones. Under that plan, called "unit-focused stability," new soldiers would arrive in a brigade at the same time and remain there three years, an average first enlistment. They would remain in that brigade if they re-enlist. In units returning from Iraq, soldiers set to leave the service would be discharged 90 to 120 days after they get home. The newly returned brigade then would undergo intensive training for five to six months, until its soldiers are ready for deployment. It would be considered in a "high state of readiness" for about the next 30 months, with the goal of keeping the entire unit together for about three years, Byrne said. Soldiers could expect to deploy once for six to 12 months during the three-year period, or the unit's "operational cycle." At the end of three years, a batch of fresh soldiers would replace those whose enlistments were coming to an end. A certain percentage of soldiers could be expected to re-enlist and remain in the unit, Byrne said. Most Army units now are manned through the use of an individual replacement system, which means that about 13 percent of the Army's 480,000 active-duty soldiers are in transition from one place to another at any given time. Byrne said Army officials thought the new measure would help build "stability and cohesion" throughout a given unit, from the lowest to the highest levels. "If you go down to a rifle battalion, and if you can keep that squad or that platoon together, so that you know what the guy's going to do on your right or your left, that makes you a better soldier," Byrne said. "You have more confidence in your unit and you have more confidence in your leaders. You basically know who they are, so that when they tell you their intent, you know how to operate." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © 2004 KRT Wire and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.mercurynews.com

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