General: Iraq Deployments To Continue For Years, 7-Month Stints Set For Next Few Years
SAN DIEGO -- Unless there's a dramatic improvement on the ground in Iraq, Camp Pendleton Marines will likely spend the next few years deploying for seven-month cycles
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September 18, 2006
That's the word from Major Gen. Mike Leonard, who is in charge of the West Coast Marine bases.
He told the North County Times that Camp Pendleton's Marines will face cycles of seven months in Iraq followed by seven months at home for at least the next few years.
The news didn't surprise military officials at the base, who are taking the news with grudging acceptance. But to Marines who are already into the fourth Iraq deployment, it's not a pleasant subject.
Len Hayes of the 1st Marine Division Association said the seven-month schedule will be sustained for as many as four deployments but will be tough for many Marines and civilians.
"[It's] very tough. Americans don't have a history of liking long wars," Hayes said.
Still, some people like Kristin Plant, who is married to a Marine, are trying to look on the bright side, especially because seven months is much less than the 12-month deployment schedule used by the Army.
"I wish it wasn't that way, but there's nothing you can do about it," Plant said. "It's much better than a year. A year is too long. Seven months feels like it's too long but it'd be much too long for a year."
But for many civilians like Oceanside resident Howard Collison, the constant deployments are a hardship that seems to compound the frustrations in Iraq -- and have some unpleasant allusions to the Vietnam War.
"We're not going to have another Vietnam," Collison said. "We just can't afford it, because what about the next war down the road."
Although Marine recruiting efforts are running into resistance, Corps officials said the retention rates are holding steady and Hayes said that's because most Marines are dedicated to their job.
"From a Marine perspective, and as a career officer, I'd say we're professional enough to fight the war until our president tells us to come home," Hayes said.