Waiting for the Steiner

Earlier this week, I noted that there was still some debate at the Pentagon on whether or not to extend the fifteen month tour of duty for active duty ground combat maneuver brigades to eighteen or more months. This step was being debated because the US Army is out of units and its rotation schedule is about as coherent as the drunk street preacher on the corner of Smithfield and 5th Avenue.

The Secretary of the Army is now stating that the Pentagon will not, repeat NOT extend ground combat maneuver brigades past fifteen months. Therefore the only sources of new brigades are further pre-mature re-activation of National Guard combat brigades that saw combat in 2005. And the timeclock is ticking rapidly on this front also. We would normally see warning and activation orders for these units with the next couple of weeks.