- (AFP) -- The US Army, responding to commanders' concerns
about unit readiness, has decided to extend the tours of thousands of soldiers
in Iraq who were due to end their service or retire before their units'
return home, an army spokesman said.
-
- Under a so-called "stop loss/stop movement"
order that is expected to go into effect soon, those soldiers will be required
to remain in service for up to 90 days after their units return to their
home base in the United States or Europe, the spokesman said.
-
- The order will affect about 7,000 soldiers currently
in Iraq who were either due to end their service or retire before their
unit was scheduled to redeploy, said Major Steve Stover.
-
- A similar order already is effect for members of army
reserve units and for active duty soldiers who are scheduled to deploy
to Iraq or Afghanistan.
-
- "The question remained, what about the units currently
in theater?" said Stover. "This is where the commander in the
field said, 'Hey look, my operational level is starting to drop, and if
it goes below a certain level, they are not combat effective.'"
-
- Soldiers affected by the order tended to be in leadership
positions because of their level of experience, Stover said.
-
- "The combatant commanders said that if you replace
them by taking them out now, it's going to cause turbulence and confusion,
because you're taking away key leaders at a key time when a unit is currently
in operation," he said.
-
- The new order comes as the army is embarking on a massive
and complex rotation of its forces in Iraq.
-
- Members of Congress were briefed on the plan Monday but
commanders have yet to be formally notified of the decision, he said.
-
- "It's imminent. It's going to happen this week,"
he said.
-
-
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