WASHINGTON — Bradford and Robynne Ashby were the kinds of enlisted soldiers an Army at war wants to keep -- highly trained and combat-tested with two tours in Iraq behind them.
Still, nothing their superiors offered could persuade the two sergeants to make the Army a career. Not even a stint in Hawaii. And last month, the Ashbys found themselves in a different kind of convoy -- her Chevy S-10 pickup behind his Dodge Ram, rolling from the outskirts of Ft. Bragg in North Carolina to southern Louisiana to start a new chapter of their civilian life.
They had been skilled helicopter technicians with the 82nd Airborne Division and, not yet 30, just the sort of noncommissioned officers needed to train the 65,000 new soldiers President Bush has ordered to expand the short-handed force over the next six years.
But the Ashbys are among the midcareer leaders the Army is having the most trouble holding on to -- those torn between finishing a fight and raising a family. In this case, the Army lost twice: Bradford Ashby left in October, his wife the year before, because they didn't want to watch the children they plan to have grow up on video.
"When you're single and in the Army, it's not really a big deal," Robynne Ashby said, stopping off in Alabama on the two-day drive, their dog, Spade, in the passenger's seat. "It's nice; you go to foreign countries. We met people in Bosnia, saw Budapest.
"But these guys had kids being born while they were gone, toddlers growing up. It's hard on the family. You totally understand why they don't stay."
'Holes in the force'
More than five years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan have put the all-volunteer Army under tremendous strain. Time at home is supposed to be longer than time at war -- two years to one. Instead, deployments are longer than respites -- 15 months versus a year. And there is little or no R&R in combat.
By giving soldiers incentives to stay, the Army has met and even exceeded retention goals. Housing and family services have been improved. Signing bonuses have soared.
But in the middle ranks -- soldiers such as the Ashbys, who have served between six and eight years and are at a point of deciding whether to make the military a career -- the challenge is greater. Their retention rate is below the mark. That means the Army is struggling to keep the leaders it believes it needs to press two wars and train its expanding force.
