WASHINGTON — Combat is a matter of odds, which is why World War II bomber crews were sent home after completing 25 missions. They served, they survived, and they were not compelled to press their luck. That’s also why troops
WASHINGTON — Combat is a matter of odds, which is why World War II bomber crews were sent home after completing 25 missions. They served, they survived, and they were not compelled to press their luck. That’s also why troops serving in Vietnam were rotated home after one year. Those individuals nearing DEROS (Date of Estimated Return from Overseas) were said to be “short,” and they would often let everyone know that they had only a brief time left to serve.
But troops serving in Iraq are generally brought home with their units, rather than individually. The downside of this policy is that experience and operational continuity are impaired because replacement units cannot seamlessly take over. Even so, the largest troop rotation in U.S. military history began last December and was to continue through April — intended to replace 130,000 Army troops with 110,000 soldiers and 26,000 marines. But on April 7, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announced that return for units currently serving in Iraq will be delayed because of the need for more troops.
Units rotating into Iraq include parts or entire sections of three infantry divisions, a cavalry division, a brigade combat team, three National Guard brigades, and a Marine expeditionary force. Groups and sections of units rotating out of Iraq were to include two airborne divisions, an armored division, an infantry division, an airborne brigade, and two armored cavalry regiments.
Some of these units, such as the 101st Airborne Division, have already departed, so Rumsfeld’s decision won’t result in more than 260,000 troops being stationed in Iraq. However, the number could approach 200,000, the very figure former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki said would be needed to pacify the country.
So the great troop rotation is turning into the great troop deployment, the largest single reinforcement operation since World War II. This is not welcome news to the U.S. servicemen and servicewomen on the frontlines in Iraq. They were scheduled to leave and now they are not. The negative impact on morale may be significant.
Life in a combat zone is not only frightening and risky, it is tedious, miserable and lonely. Combat exacts a physical and mental toll. Friends are killed or maimed — 33 soldiers and marines lost their lives in the first week of April, the worst loss since hostilities were declared at an end a year ago. Children are caught in the crossfire. Night and day temperatures in Iraq go from hot to cold; sand clogs all apertures, human and mechanical; and friends and foes among the Iraqis often cannot be distinguished. But mostly it is boring, which causes complacency, which results in casualties.
The troops have their buddies, but not their loved ones, which is why mail call is the highlight of the day — if there is mail. And a recurring theme in both incoming and outgoing letters is the countdown to DEROS.
Now a different sort of letter is being written, such as “Well, it looks like I’m not coming home now after all. Apparently, there aren’t enough people in uniform, so I have to pull a double tour. Of course, they tell us it won’t be another year, but who knows what’s in store for us? Who knows anything?”
Political Correspondent: Eleanor Clift
Copyright 2004 Anderson and Cohn
Distributed by United Feature Syndicate, Inc.
