Army Chief of Staff, GEN Casey, said recently that more Soldiers than before are able to spend more time at home in between deployments. Average of 17–18 months versus 12–month average earlier. While this is good news, there are some points that need to be considered when one determines the exact meaning of “at home”.
For example, training for follow–on deployments during “at home” time often takes one away from “home”. Additionally, unexpected missions such as disaster recovery or other Army directed tasks also take people away from “home”. I’m not complaining mind you, just giving my opinion, which means zero since I’m not one effected. But, I once was during the Vietnam War, and I remember 12–24 months between deployments being standard. So, I get it.
What all this seems to boil down to is a need for more Soldiers in the force. Or else, reduce the OPTEMPO involved with overseas deployments. That’s not going to happen anytime soon, so I’m generally happy to see GEN Casey work in the direction he is.
