WAR STRESSES MAY BE GROWING: TOP MILITARY OFFICER

WASHINGTON — Stress on U.S. troops from repeated combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan is “extraordinary” and may be worsening even as fighting eases in Iraq, the military’s top officer says.

By Robert Burns - The Associated PressPosted : Wednesday Nov 19, 2008 6:04:49 EST
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/11/ap_mullen_111908/

In an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, Adm. Mike Mullen expressed hope that the strain will be relieved gradually as the Marine Corps and Army expand the pool of available forces.

The Marines, for example, created an additional battalion this fall and plan to add another by February, Mullen said. That will allow them to “feed the fight as well as relieve the stress,” he said.

The Army, while also growing, will take longer to put additional combat units into the pipeline for fighting wars, he said.

When he became chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff a little over a year ago, Mullen made much of his concern that stress on the force — and on troops’ families — could undermine military readiness.

Since then, improved security in Iraq has opened the door to a withdrawal, or at least a slowdown in troop rotations there. But at the same time conditions in Afghanistan have worsened and commanders there are calling for substantially more troops. Thus, slack in Iraq is being taken up by the push into Afghanistan.

In the interview in his Pentagon office, Mullen made clear that he remains concerned about stress, but stopped short of calling it a crisis.