General Casey Urges Acceleration Of Active-Duty GI Increase
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SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii — The Army’s new chief of staff says he wants to accelerate by two years a plan to increase the nation’s active-duty soldiers by 65,000.
The Army has set 2012 as its target date for a force expansion to 547,000 troops, but General George Casey said Saturday that he has told his staff to have the soldiers ready earlier.
“I said that’s too long. Go back and tell me what it would take to get it done faster,” he said in an interview with the Associated Press during a stop in Hawaii.
General Casey became the Army’s chief of staff on April 12 after serving as the top U.S.commander in Iraq for two-and-a-half years. He visited Hawaii for a few days in a Pacific region tour to talk with soldiers and their families. He next heads to Japan, South Korea, and Alaska.
General Casey said his staff has submitted a proposal for the accelerated timeline but that he has yet to approve the plan. He said the Army was stretched and would remain that way until the additional troops were trained and equipped.
General Casey told a group of soldiers’ spouses that one of his tasks is to try to limit the impact of the strain on soldiers and their families.
