WASHINGTON — The Army's top general said Thursday that the mission in Iraq "will break" the Army without an expansion of the size of the active-duty force or the remobilization of the National Guard and reserves.
Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff, said the all-volunteer Army was being tested by a schedule that allowed less than a year at home for active-duty units between deployments to Iraq.
Boosting the size of the active-duty force would be expensive, and remobilizing the guard members and reservists who have already served in Iraq would be controversial and politically unpopular. But the high operational demand placed on the Army is unlikely to end soon, Schoomaker said. And without sending reservists to Iraq for additional tours or expanding the size of the active-duty Army, it would be difficult to meet the overseas demands.
The Army is officially allowed to have 482,000 soldiers, but Congress has temporarily authorized the service to grow by 30,000. So far, the Army has added 25,000 soldiers.
Testifying before the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves, which was created by Congress to examine challenges facing the reserve component, Schoomaker did not say precisely how much he wanted the Army to grow. But he said "current demand" made an increase "wise and prudent." His remarks left open the possibility that the Army would seek an increase beyond its current limit of 512,000.
"If the nation decides to further increase the size of the Army, it will take a significant amount of time and commitment from the nation," he said. "Optimistically, we could add 6,000 to 7,000 soldiers per year."
Last month, Marine Gen. James T. Conway said that an increase in his force was under consideration and that funding for a temporary boost in the size of the Corps could be included in next year's supplemental budget request.
Some outside experts -- notably Frederick W. Kagan of the conservative American Enterprise Institute think tank in Washington -- have suggested that the Army should grow annually by one division, about 20,000 people, until it reaches 750,000 soldiers.
Kagan said that from 1979 to 1991, America had an all-volunteer active-duty force of 780,000. "I do not believe we cannot find a way to recruit to a higher level," he said. "The president is going to have to call on the young people of this nation to come out and support this effort."
