Webb Looks to Re-Start Dwell Time Debate

by: Brandon Friedman

Tue Dec 02, 2008 at 15:02:21 PM EST


Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) isn't done with his efforts to ensure that troops get the time they need to recover and retrain between deployments.  From the Army Times:

Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., is not giving up on his so-far unsuccessful bid to guarantee in law that troops will get as much time at home as they spend deployed.

Although the services generally have a 1:1 ratio of time deployed to time at home since U.S. ground forces in Iraq have returned to pre-surge levels, Webb sees benefits to putting the so-called "dwell time" plan into law. "While current policy has taken it down to 1:1, the only way to ensure that is to codify it," said Webb spokeswoman Kimberly Hunter.

Webb plans to reintroduce legislation early next year, Hunter said, but has not decided when to press for a vote on what could be a key test of whether Democrats will have the support of at least a handful of moderate Republicans to push through legislation that was blocked earlier this year.

This is good to hear.  But it'll be even nicer once we can move back to the ultimately necessary 1:2 ratio.
Brandon Friedman :: Webb Looks to Re-Start Dwell Time Debate
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Webb Looks to Re-Start Dwell Time Debate | 3 comments
Saw That and Maybe This Will Help Him........ (4.00 / 1)
Official: Long deployments less effective

The Army has concluded it is very difficult to sustain effective unit deployments longer than 12 months, a top Army official said.

Currently, the Army is about at its maximum capability and "about as deployed as it can be," Ford said. He also noted that there are still several units serving 15-month deployments - the last of which will not finish its deployment until about this time next year.

Nothing like stating the obvious, even to us who've been out for years, and us who understand what occupation deployments can do to even the most dedicated.

Wonder if he'll get a promotion for the observations!!

'Hearts and Minds, "The ultimate victory will depend on the hearts and minds of the people who actually live there." -- President Lyndon Johnson

Effect on Retention… (4.00 / 1)
Not to mention the effects that longer deployments and not enough down time between deployments must have on retention.

I was single while I was in Navy so I did not have to deal with what my married shipmates had to deal with; long deployments can have devastating effects on families.  

Not Good, Not Surprising (0.00 / 0)
Divorce rate increases in Marine Corps, Army

The divorce rate among soldiers and Marines increased last year as military marriages suffered continuing stress from America's two ongoing wars. There were an estimated 10,200 failed marriages in the active duty Army and 3,077 among Marines, according to figures obtained by The Associated Press for the budget year ended Sept. 30.


'Hearts and Minds, "The ultimate victory will depend on the hearts and minds of the people who actually live there." -- President Lyndon Johnson
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Webb Looks to Re-Start Dwell Time Debate | 3 comments
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