WASHINGTON (AP) – For just the second time since the war began, the Army is sending large units back to Iraq without giving them at least one year of rest at home between deployments, officials said Monday.

The move signaled just how stretched the American fighting force has become.

A combat brigade from New York and a Texas headquarters unit will return to Iraq this summer in order to maintain through August the military build-up President Bush announced earlier this year. Overall the Pentagon announced that 7,000 troops will be deploying to Iraq in the coming months, as part of the effort to keep 20 brigades in the country to help bolster the ongoing Baghdad security plan. A brigade is roughly 3,000 soldiers.

“Obviously right now the Army is stretched, and we will make every effort possible not to break their dwell time,” said a senior Army official, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. “But in this case we had to.”

The 4th Infantry Division headquarters unit from Fort Hood, Texas, will return to Iraq after a little more than seven months at home – the largest break to date from the Army’s goal of giving units a year’s rest after every year deployed. The 1st Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division, based at Ft. Drum, N.Y., will go back to Iraq after just 10 1/2 months at home.