Repeated Deployments Start To Weigh Heavily On U.S. Troops

From USA Today:

WARDAK PROVINCE, Afghanistan — Army Staff Sgt. Bobby Martin Jr. has been fighting insurgents in Iraq or Afghanistan longer than the entire three years the Korean War lasted.

At age 34 and finishing a fourth combat tour, he has seen five of his men killed since 2003. Four died this year, including two on Martin's birthday in May. Thirty-eight cumulative months in combat have left him with bad knees, aching shins and recurring headaches from a roadside blast, ailments he hides from his soldiers.

Out of earshot of his troops, Martin concedes, "This is a lot of wear and tear."

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My Comment: After 8 years of war and conflict .... stresses and fatigue will naturally set in. The best way to solve this is to increase enlistments and recruitment .... but with budget and personnel limitations I doubt that this will happen. As to our allies in the region, the Afghan Army is slowly growing but it will take years before it is a significant force, and many of our present allies in the war zone are already contemplating leaving the region and the fight (i.e. Canada and the Netherlands).