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Washington: The US Marine Corps may need to increase in size in order to sustain deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan without sacrificing needed training or putting undue stress on the corps, says the Marines' new commandant.
At a breakfast meeting with reporters on Wednesday, General James Conway also warned that it could take years to train and equip the Iraqi security forces adequately, longer, perhaps, "than the timeline that we probably feel ... our country will support".
"This is tough work, it doesn't happen overnight," and patience by the American people will be needed, he said. On the plus side, he said Marines he has talked to in recent days are encouraged by the progress they are seeing among Iraqi forces. Conway said the current pace of Marine rotations to Iraq - seven months there and seven-to-nine months at home - is limiting other types of training that units can receive.
Such a rigorous deployment schedule eventually could prompt Marines to leave the service, he said.
Individuals
"There is stress on the individual Marines that is increasing, and there is stress on the institution to do what we are required to do, pretty much by law, for the nation," Conway said.
The goal, he said, is for units to spend twice the amount of time at home as is spent on deployment. For example, he would prefer seven months deployed and 14 months at home.
At the same time, Conway would not rule out extending the Iraq tours for some Marine units if needed for a short period. Several Army units have been extended for several months, but the Marines have done that only rarely and for weeks rather than months.
Conway, who took on the Marines' top job just eight days ago, said there are two ways to deal with the stress the Marines are under: "One is reducing the requirement, the other is potentially growing the force for what we call the long war." The Bush administration is completing its budget for fiscal 2008, which starts next October 1, and the armed services are hoping to receive increased funding to carry on the fighting. Conway said he could not say how much the Marines would be seeking.
There currently are about 180,000 active duty Marines.
Volatile
Just last week, the top US commander in the Middle East said about 2,200 more Marines were headed to Iraq's volatile western Anbar province in a short-term effort to shore up US combat power there.
The commander, Gen John Abizaid, also told Congress last week the Army and Marine Corps are not big enough to sustain a substantial increase in troop levels in Iraq, although he said adding 20,000 troops for a short period was possible. Conway said he has enough troops if a decision is taken to increase them in Iraq.
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