US military to shorten soldier tours of duty

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WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US Army will shorten the length of tours of duty for personnel deployed in combat zones from a year to nine months, as it pursues its withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon said Friday.

“This policy will not affect personnel or units currently deployed or deploying prior to Jan. 1, 2012,” the secretary of the army, John McHugh, said in a statement, adding the move would be fully in effect by April 2012.

The US Army is looking to allow soldiers to spend two years in the United States for each year they are deployed, but the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq have resulted in consecutive deployments for many personnel.

Those back-to-back war tours have prompted concerns about the health of the soldiers, with an increase seen in reported psychological problems and the number of suicides.

“The reduced deployment length will improve soldier and family quality of life while continuing to meet operational requirements and is an important step in sustaining the all-volunteer-force,” McHugh said.

The United States is due to pull 46,000 soldiers out of Iraq by year’s end, and has announced the withdrawal of 33,000 US forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2012. Afghan security forces are due to assume full command by the end of 2014.