Army Preparing Four Years Ahead in Iraq War

The Army is planning for the possibility of keeping the current number of soldiers in Iraq for four more years, the Army’s top general said Saturday.

Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker said the Army was prepared for the “worst case” in terms of the required level of troops in Iraq. Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff, said commanders in Iraq and others in the chain of command would decide how many troops would be needed next year and beyond.

His responsibility is to provide the troops, trained and equipped.

About 138,000 U.S. troops are now in Iraq.

“We are now into ‘07-’09 in our planning,” Schoomaker told Associated Press.

He said work had been completed on the units that would be rotated into Iraq over the coming year for 12-month tours of duty.

Schoomaker’s comments coincide with indications from Bush administration officials and commanders in Iraq that the size of the U.S. force may be scaled back next year if certain conditions, such as approval of a new constitution in a national referendum, are achieved.

Schoomaker said he was confident the Army could provide the current number of forces to fight the insurgency for many more years.

The 2007-2009 rotation he is planning would go beyond President Bush’s term in office, which ends in January 2009.

“We’re staying 18 months to two years ahead of ourselves” in planning which active-duty and National Guard and reserve units will be provided to meet the commanders’ needs, Schoomaker said.

The main active-duty combat units scheduled to go to Iraq in the coming year are the 101st Airborne Division, based at Ft. Campbell, Ky., and the 4th Infantry Division from Ft. Hood, Texas. Both have done one-year tours.

The Army has changed the way it arranges troop rotations. Instead of sending a full complement of replacement forces each 12-month cycle, it now stretches the rotation over two years.