Bush Adminstration Endorses 12-Month Deployment Plan It Said It ‘Would Never Approve’

This week, the administration is expected to announce that it will shorten troop deployments from 15 months to 12 months beginning this summer, after Pentagon officials and military families vocalized the toll the tours are taking on troops.

Today, NPR reported that Joint Chairman Mike Mullen said he was “very public for many months that we need to get off 15 month deployments as fast as we can.” Mullen said the military is now close to the “red line”:

First of all, we don’t want to cross it, not exactly sure where it is. I don’t think we’re standing right in front of it, but I don’t think it out there at infinite either.

Listen here:

[flv http://video.thinkprogress.org/2008/04/MullenMilitaryStrain.320.40.flv]

As part of the administration’s new plan, it has indicated it will give troops equal time at home and deployed, according to the AP:

A senior administration official said Friday that plans are to deploy soldiers for 12 months, then give them 12 months rest time at home. Exactly which units would be affected is not yet clear.

While the Pentagon’s announcement is a welcome development, last year, the administration was stubbornly opposed a similar plan set forth by Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA). Webb’s “dwell time” bill would have mandated that troops be given time to rest at home at least equal to the length of their deployments.

The administration went on a full scale assault against Webb’s bill, pressuring Sen. John Warner (R-VA) to vote against it. Warner teamed up with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to introduce a toothless “sense of the Senate” resolution to kill Webb’s “will of the Senate” bill.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates also smacked down Webb’s “well-intentioned idea,” recommending a presidential veto:

I think, if as I believe, the President would never approve such a bill. It would mean, if it were enacted, we would have force management problems that would be extremely difficult and in fact create, I think affect combat effectiveness, and perhaps pose greater risk to our troops.

As early as June 2007, Webb predicted that “15-month deployments will not be sustainable for long.” Nevertheless, the administration insisted then that “Congress should not etch into law deployment and dwell times.” Now, the Bush administration is doing the same, but only after pushing troops to the extreme.