Rumsfeld: Army Not 'Broken': Secretary Disputes Reports Warning Of War's Strains

Washington Post
Jan. 26, 2006

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld yesterday strongly rejected warnings in a Pentagon-contracted study that the Iraq war risks "breaking" the U.S. Army, and he said a recent decision to scale back U.S. troop levels in Iraq did not grow out of a need to relieve the strain on American ground forces.

"The force is not broken," Rumsfeld said at a Pentagon press briefing yesterday. "I just can't imagine someone looking at the United States armed forces today and suggesting that they're close to breaking. That's just not the case."

On the contrary, Rumsfeld said, the U.S. military is "battle-hardened" and an "enormously capable force," as demonstrated to the world by its swift overthrow of governments in Iraq and Afghanistan. Such proven capability "ought to increase the deterrent rather than weaken it," he added.

Rumsfeld's remarks came in response to questions about two studies released yesterday -- one by a Democratic advisory group chaired by former defense secretary William J. Perry, and another by a military analyst contracted by the Pentagon -- that warned of the long-term consequences of strains on U.S. military manpower and equipment from repeated war-zone deployments. Such stress, if not alleviated, could worsen recruiting and undermine retention, threatening the all-volunteer force, the studies found.

"Soldiers and brigades are being deployed more frequently, and for longer periods, than what the Army believes is appropriate in order to attract and retain the number of soldiers necessary," Andrew F. Krepinevich, executive director of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, wrote in a November 2005 study for the Pentagon first disclosed Tuesday by the Associated Press. "It is not clear, even to Army leaders, how long this practice can be sustained."

Krepinevich concluded that "vigorous efforts should be made to enable a substantial drawdown in U.S. force levels" from Iraq, because "the Army simply cannot sustain the force levels desired to sustain the momentum needed to break the back of the insurgent movement."

Rumsfeld, however, expressed confidence yesterday that the Pentagon could maintain the current troop level of 138,000 in Iraq indefinitely, although he said he did not expect to do so. "There isn't any reason in the world why we shouldn't be able to maintain, with an active and reserve total force concept of over 2 million people, why we shouldn't be able to maintain 138,000," he said.

Rumsfeld also said that a decision announced in December to cut the number of troops in Iraq by this spring to about 130,000 was not driven by a need to ease strain on U.S. forces. "That's just false," Rumsfeld said in response to a reporter's question. He said Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the senior U.S. commander in Iraq, "is not making his recommendations based on that."

Since mid-2004, troop levels in Iraq have ranged from about 135,000 to 160,000, requiring Army and Marine combat units to rotate into Iraq with shorter-than-usual stays at home in between. Active-duty Army units, for example, have been spending a year in Iraq and then 15 to 22 months at home -- less than the goal of two years set by Army leaders.

The prospect of serving in Iraq contributed to a shortfall in Army recruiting of nearly 7,000 soldiers last year, Army officials have said, despite large increases in bonuses and incentives. High overall retention helped make up for the deficit, Army figures show.

The second study, by the group commissioned by congressional Democrats and chaired by Perry, criticized what it called the Bush administration's inadequate planning for Iraq. It said not sending sufficient troops and equipment has put the Army and Marine Corps under "enormous strain" that risks undermining national security.

The active-duty Army has a deficit of about 18,000 junior enlisted personnel, the study found. Army manpower has dropped over the past year, falling to the current level of about 492,000 -- about 10,000 short of the goal of 502,000 authorized by Congress, Defense Department figures show.

The study proposed increased funding for recruiting, equipment, as well as a permanent increase of 30,000 soldiers in the Army's active-duty deployable forces. That would allow the Army to increase active-duty combat brigades from 37 to 48, the study said.

But Rumsfeld reiterated yesterday that Army leaders do not seek a permanent growth of 30,000. Moreover, the Army, which had planned to increase its active-duty combat brigades from 33 to 43, last week announced that it seeks to grow to 42 as a result of a top-level review of Pentagon strategy and resources. Together with a cut in National Guard combat brigades, from 34 to 28, that would give the Army 70 total combat brigades instead of the previously planned 77.

Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey said in an interview that the change resulted from a new Pentagon goal of being able to sustain a deployment of 18 or 19 combat brigades around the world -- a reduction from a target set by Army leaders of 20 to 21 brigades.