Currently, Army soldiers serve 15-month overseas deployments with 12 months at home in between. Marines serve seven-month deployments separated by another seven months. For the Marine Corps (a much smaller branch of service than the Army) the fact that 3,200 Marines are now being sent to Afghanistan is considered by some to be severely degrading Marine assets.
The Post further reported that efforts to increase the number of soldiers and Marines will not translate into units able to provide operational relief until 2011.
Magnus suggested that if more Marines are freed from Iraq they could also go to Afghanistan. Marines “will move to the sound of the guns in Afghanistan,” he said. But he said it would be difficult to keep the force split between the two countries because the Marine Corps has limited resources to command a divided force and supply it logistically.
The Marine Corps is “basically in two boats at the same time,” he said.
