WASHINGTON - The Army's top civilian leader said Thursday he sees "no possibility" of extending soldiers' 15-month Iraq tours, reflecting concern about mounting strains on soldiers and their families as well as an emerging expectation that the troop buildup in Iraq can be reversed next year.
In an Associated Press interview, Army Secretary Pete Geren said that regardless of near-term changes in Iraq, the Army must find new ways to adjust to the pressures of engaging in a global war against extremism, which he described as a "persistent conflict" that could last two decades.
"Persistent conflict is a given," he said in his first extensive interview since becoming Army secretary in July.
In light of that, Army leaders are studying how to adapt to the strains -- including the stresses felt by families of deployed and wounded soldiers -- that are now coming to light as a result of the lengthy and repeated deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, he said.
"We've planned for it, but until you actually live it you don't recognize all the challenges you have," he said, including problems associated with the regular use of the National Guard and Reserve.
In April, the Pentagon announced that all active-duty soldiers going to Iraq would spend 15 months there instead of 12, a move unpopular with troops and their families. It was deemed necessary to maintain the U.S. troop buildup of roughly 30,000 until at least April 2008.
In recent weeks some Army officials have said they could not rule out extending the tours beyond 15 months. But Geren was unequivocal in stating the Army was not considering it.
"We see no possibility we'd be going beyond 15 months," he said. "Our goal is to move it the other direction -- move it back to 12 months." He added later, "Fifteen months is asking more than we want to ask of our soldiers and their families over the long term."
After ruling out longer deployments, Geren would not say what options are under consideration to maintain current troop levels beyond spring of 2008 if the Army is asked to do so.
"We'd have to look at the whole range of options," he said. "I don't want to speculate on how we would meet the demand that combatant commanders might make next year but we're looking at all the options to meet what that demand might be."
His comments reflect a growing expectation that the military will begin reducing its numbers in Iraq next spring, in part due to pressure from a Congress increasingly eager to wind down the war.
There are currently about 162,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.
Asked about comparisons between the Iraq conflict and the Vietnam war -- a parallel President Bush drew Wednesday -- Geren said Iraq is unique.
In a speech to a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention, Bush cited Vietnam as a cautionary tale for those urging troop withdrawals today from Iraq. "One unmistakable legacy of Vietnam is that the price of America's withdrawal was paid by millions of innocent citizens ...," he said, suggesting that leaving Iraq now would likewise lead to more civilian deaths.
Geren said the White House did not consult him in advance about the president's remarks on the Vietnam war, adding that "historical analogies help illuminate the present." Geren said the Army "looks at every conflict as unique," and he noted that the only two conflicts in U.S. history that lasted longer than the current war on terror, which began in October 2001, were Vietnam and the Revolutionary War.
He highlighted one important difference between the current conflict and Vietnam: In Vietnam, the United States had a conscripted Army, whereas today's is comprised of all volunteers. Asked whether he believed the Bush administration and Congress should consider returning to a draft, Geren said there is no good reason to scrap an all-volunteer system that has worked well since it began in 1973.
"We're not looking at returning to a draft," he said. "A draft does not fit the model of the United States Army right now."
Geren, 55, also criticized congressional efforts to mandate deployment lengths or rest time at home between warfront deployments. A former Democratic member of Congress from Fort Worth, Texas, Geren said the Army understands the importance of reducing deployment times and extending time at home.
"That type of micromanagement (by Congress) is just not something that would help us," he said. "The Army is doing everything it can."
