THE TENSION: Pentagon: Army Announces New Afghanistan Troop Rotation

News in Balance:

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3, 2009 -- The following news release made available Thursday by the U.S. Department of Defense is the text of a statement announcing units for an upcoming Afghanistan rotation:

The Department of the Army announced today the extension of a division headquarters and a combat aviation brigade in Afghanistan, as well as the future deployment of a division headquarters with recent Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) experience.

These moves are part of an initiative to place units on a habitual rotation to take advantage of their knowledge of the complex environment to which they are returning and to increase deployment stability. We will seek to better align the rotation of units and their headquarters for force cohesion.

The units being extended are the 82nd Airborne Division Headquarters, Fort Bragg, N.C., and the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, Fort Stewart, Ga. The 82nd Airborne Division will extend its current deployment by approximately 50 days, and the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade will extend for 14 days. These extensions are necessary to allow follow-on units to accrue one year of time at home station before redeploying (dwell time). The process will be managed to avoid any stop-loss for personnel.

The follow-on forces will deploy in the late spring of 2010. They are the 101st Airborne Division Headquarters, Fort Campbell, Ky., which will now deploy six months sooner than previously planned, and the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, Fort Drum, N.Y.

These adjustments to the OEF troop rotation achieve better continuity at the division headquarters level in Afghanistan and increase deployment stability for the soldiers and families of these units. When these adjustments are completed, the units will deploy at close to a 1-2 ratio (1 year deployed - 2 years home) -- much better than today’s ratio.

This rotation continues the U.S. commitment to maintain the level of forces necessary to provide sufficient military capability for the NATO-International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to further improve security and stability operations. In consultation with Afghan officials and NATO, commanders continue to assess the situation to ensure sufficient force levels to best support the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, perform counter-terrorism operations, assist with reconstruction, and train and equip the Afghan national security forces. Afghan security forces continue to develop capability and assume responsibility for security. This U.S. force rotation may be tailored based upon changes in the security situation.

“These adjustments to our force flow strategy are an important element in supporting the commander of ISAF’s efforts to develop greater campaign continuity in regard to maximizing experience and stability in Operation Enduring Freedom,” said Lt. Gen. J.D. Thurman, the U.S. Army’s deputy chief of staff for operations.