Afghanistan

Troops begin to see light at the end of tunnel

Excitement was palpable during Obama's speech

Posted Jun 23, 2011

Ben Brody
GlobalPost

U.S. Army photoU.S. Army field artilleryman Sgt. Charles Rubich, serving with the 1st Infantry Division, Task Force Duke, cools off with water from a well in Katalai village, Khowst province, Afghanistan, on June 15.

Media analysis of President Obama's drawdown speech was broadcast in military chow halls across Afghanistan on Thursday morning, and the excitement among soldiers at Forward Operating Base Howz-e Madad was palpable. Despite the fact that the withdrawal timeline won't affect the duration or intensity of their current tour, they speculated that even if this isn't their final tour, they might only have one more to go.

According to a recent publication by Gen. Martin Dempsey, the incoming chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, those remaining tours may be cut from 12 months to nine. This is only supposed to apply to troops arriving in Afghanistan after October. Some soldiers now in Afghanistan said they had been threatened with disciplinary action if they discussed rumors that their current, year-long tour, might be shortened.

"We've got to get this thing done by 2014 with fewer troops, so no soldier should be expecting that the Army will ask less of them," said Command Sgt. Maj. John Horney, the senior enlisted man in 1-32 Infantry Battalion. "It's my job to keep soldiers informed with accurate information so there's no letdown.

A look at Army reenlistment goals speaks to the impending shift from big-army counterinsurgency to special ops and intel-based counterterrorism. Career fields deemed over-strength and not currently accepting new recruits: infantry, artillery, air defense, aviation, armor and most support and logistics jobs.

Career fields aggressively recruiting: special forces, intelligence and linguistics.

This article originally appeared on GlobalPost.