WASHINGTON — In yet another sign of the strains on the U.S. military in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks and the Iraq war, the Pentagon for the first time is considering extending the mobilization of National Guard soldiers who will soon hit the federal limit of 24 months of active service, defense officials said Tuesday.
Initially, the decision would affect about 450 soldiers of the Arkansas National Guard who are in Iraq with the 39th Brigade Combat Team. The soldiers, mobilized after Sept. 11 and first sent to the Sinai Peninsula on a peacekeeping rotation, are the first group of National Guard troops to approach the 24-month limit that the Pentagon established days after the terrorist attacks in the United States.
Ultimately, however, waiving the limit in this case might lead to extended deployments for thousands of other reservists and National Guard members in Iraq and Afghanistan, and provide ammunition to critics in Congress who are pushing the Bush administration to increase the size of the military.
"Every day it seems to be another improvisational attempt to stretch forces that are already stretched very thin," said Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), a former paratrooper with the Army's 82nd Airborne Division and an advocate of bolstering the Army's ranks.
But the status of the soldiers, being considered by David S.C. Chu, undersecretary of Defense for personnel and readiness, has not yet been decided, Pentagon officials said.
"This is the first time this has happened; we're breaking new ground here," said Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, a Defense Department spokeswoman.
Doing away with the 24-month limit would be certain to upset many long-serving soldiers and their families, who say they are increasingly bearing the weight of a military stretched beyond its capacity. Over the last year, the conflict in Iraq has forced the Pentagon to keep more than 100,000 soldiers and Marines in the country for months after the Bush administration had expected to draw down the troop presence.
The Pentagon has issued orders preventing military personnel from leaving active duty, extended the tours of thousands of troops when insurgent activity in Iraq crested in the spring, and pulled troops out of South Korea to fill out Iraq rotations.
Last month, the Army was forced to dip into its pool of Individual Ready Reserve soldiers -- troops who are not members of a specific reserve unit but have unexpired obligations to complete their military service -- looking for roughly 5,600 to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan.
