43,000 Alerted for Duty in Iraq (NYT)

[UpInArms]

http://makeashorterlink.com/?L20C12476

WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 — The Pentagon began alerting 43,000 Reserve and National Guard troops late Wednesday for the possibility of yearlong duty in Iraq or Kuwait as part of a force-rotation plan that would reduce the overall American military presence in Iraq by next spring, senior Pentagon officials said.

The alert warnings and deployment orders approved by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Wednesday reflected concern by Pentagon officials and the administration over stresses that large mobilizations have placed on reservists and their families. These, in turn, have prompted complaints in Congress.

The orders were drafted to give the troops maximum warning about their possible duty and to ensure that the bulk of them had not already been called up since Sept. 11, 2001, senior Pentagon officials said.

...more...

[prolesunited]

1. Damn!

:mad:

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. We are quickly running out of troops

it will get very drafty for us... I fear, in oh five months, tops

[fishnfla]

3. No

The draft will come after next Nov. 4th.

[Zech Marquis]

4. the way this shit is going

it's gonna get real drafty alot sooner tan you think--there can't be enough warm bodies for the BFEE to call up shortly...we're running out of troops!

[jenk]

5. well, how many are there left to call up?

just curious, how's the recruitment coming?

just how thin are we?

[UpInArms]

6. here are some numbers for you

as of April 1, 2003

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-ff04se.html

1.4 million
The number of active duty men and women in the U.S. armed forces as of Jan. 31, 2003. Here's a Department of Defense breakdown by service branch:

Active Duty and Reserves
Total
Number of Women

All Services
1.4 million
212,000

Army
487,000
75,000

Navy
385,000
56,000

Air Force
368,000
71,000

Marine Corps
174,000
10,000

In addition, more than 38,000 men and women serve in the U.S. Coast Guard, now under the Department of Homeland Security. <http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/02statab/defense.pdf>

1.2 million
The number of active duty enlisted members of the armed forces. They were led by 223,000 officers. Of the officers, 873 were generals or admirals.<http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/02statab/defense.pdf>

1.3 million
Number of ready reservists and National Guard members. <http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/02statab/ defense.pdf>

212,000
Number of women on active duty. Another 149,000 serve in the National Guard and reserves. <http:// www.dior.whs.mil>

...there's more info at link...

[Dan]

7. wrong numbers

You need to start looking at the number of Combat troops..the ones behind the trigger.

Suspect that the Army may have less than 75,000 actual Infantry or combatant arms troops.

The military is going to need people that are trained to actually go out and get their feet in the mud. Believe it or not, there is a science to the killing of people.

[Tinoire]

8. A science?

9 weeks of Basic Training is all the science the Army feels you need. They'll just cut out all the crap EO courses and replace them with more marksmanship and map-reading.

17 weeks of 11B Infantry training will soon be a luxury at the rate this is going.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

9. Hey! Didn't Rummy say yesterday that he was going to start...

...withdrawing troops from Iraq??

Yeah, right!