Keane announces overseas unit rotation schedule
Army News Service
Release Date: 7/23/2003
By Spc. Bill Putnam
WASHINGTON (Army News Service July 23, 2003) - Gen. Jack Keane said that most units deploying to Iraq over the next few months can expect stays of up to one year when he announced the unit rotation schedule July 23.
"What we have done is taken (Gen. John Abizaid's) requirements and his needs, and looked at the forces in Iraq, and devised a plan to meet those needs," said Keane, the acting Army chief of Staff. Abizaid is the commander of Central Command.
Here's how the rotation schedule for Iraq currently looks:
The 82nd Airborne Division will replace the 3rd Infantry Division by September. Only one brigade and the division headquarters from the 82nd Airborne will deploy to Iraq. Two of the division's brigades are currently deployed, one is in Afghanistan and the one in Iraq will re-deploy by January.
The 1st Infantry Division will deploy from Germany to replace the 4th Infantry Division by April.
The 1st Cavalry Division will replace both the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment and the 1st Armored Division by April.
The Army's first Stryker Brigade Combat Team, the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, will replace the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment by March 2004.
The 173rd Airborne Brigade will re-deploy back to Italy by April.
A multinational division will replace the 101st Airborne Division by February.
Two Army National Guard Enhanced Separate Brigade Teams will deploy with the 1st ID and the 1st Cavalry. Keane didn't name the Guard units tapped for deployment, though.
The one exception to the 12-month deployments are the Guard brigades, said Keane. They will be mobilized for one year but will spend six months in Iraq.
Deployments beyond that one-year period are still being looked at, said Keane and Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the vice-director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Keane said it was important to understand the three guidelines that are driving the new Iraq rotation policy.
Abizaid needs a force large enough to defeat the guerilla movements that threaten securing Iraq.
To do that, a predictable number of soldiers on the ground are needed. An intended rotation plan of 12 months was the solution to that, Keane said.
Recognizing that most units deploying to Iraq will come from the Army, the military wants to use active-duty units from all branches of the U.S. military, said Keane. Engineer units from the Air Force or Navy might be deployed in place of Army engineer units, he explained.
The schedule will also allow the use of Reserve volunteers and reserve-component units that haven't been mobilized recently to "balance the stress across the board," Keane said.
The Army also wanted to have units ready for the war on terrorism and other contingencies like North Korea, Keane said.
Eliminating or reducing participation in exercises and other commitments is a part of that, he said.
"Internationalizing" the force in Iraq is also a goal of the U.S., he said. British and Italian army units are already on the ground with more nations contributing later.
Other nations like Poland and the Netherlands are sending troops and more nations can be expected to contribute later this year, said Keane and McChrystal.
The new U.S. units sent to Iraq will also assist the Coalition Provisional Authority in developing the new Iraqi police force, provincial defense force and national army, he said.
Once those Iraqi units are established, most of the security tasks will be handed over to them as quickly as possible, Keane said.
Contractors will also be used to provide logistical and training support and reduce the numbers of troops down as well, Keane said.
Although he didn't say specifically what they were, Keane said that quality of life and incentive issues to support the year-long rotations will be established.
The plan, as envisioned, "will allow time for the security situation to improve" in Iraq, Keane said.
Keane also announced the rotation schedule for Bosnia, Kosovo, the Sinai and Afghanistan. Deployments to those theaters will continue to be six months.
A brigade from the 10th Mountain Division will replace the one from the 82nd Airborne Division in Afghanistan by August.
The 34th Infantry Division, from Minnesota, will replace the 35th ID in Bosnia by September, and the 28th ID, from Pennsylvania, in Kosovo by February.
Sister battalions in the 34th ID will replace each other in the Sinai by January.
Unit manning during deployments has always been a challenge throughout the Army's history and subsequent policies have done their best to address the theater commander's needs, said Keane.
Entire units were deployed for "the duration" of World War II, said Keane. The one exception to that were aircraft crews who flew a set number of missions before going back to the U.S. for training, Keane said.
A unit rotation schedule was developed for combat units during the Korean War depending on that unit's job. Infantry, tank and artillery units spent six months on the front; administrative and support units had 12-month deployments. Eventually a complicated point system for individual soldiers was worked out, Keane said.
During Vietnam, a soldier spent one year in country on an individual basis. It didn't matter what job he held, Keane said.
In 1982, a six-month deployment was used for the Sinai mission.
A 12-month deployment was used initially in Bosnia but then a six-month deployment system was developed in 1996. That system has been used since and now is used in Kosovo, he said.
The six-month unit deployments are in use today in Afghanistan, said Keane.
Currently the Army has 368,000 soldiers deployed to 120 countries around the world, Keane said. There are 133,000 soldiers in Iraq with another 34,000 soldiers in Kuwait supporting them. Keane did not say how many were active Army, National Guard or Army Reserve.
More than 30,000 soldiers are in Korea; 1,000 are in the Phillippines; 1,500 soldiers are serving in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; 5,100 soldiers serve in the Balkans; and just under 10,000 are in Afghanistan.
More than 28,000 soldiers, most from the National Guard and Reserve, are deployed in the U.S. for homeland security
Twenty-four of the 33 active Army Brigade Combat Teams, or 73 percent, are deployed overseas.
Fifteen of the National Guard's 45 Enhanced Separate Battalion Combat Teams, or 33 percent are also deployed overseas, Keane said.
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