The Army’s aircraft carrier?
Morale declines when men disappear from families 6 months of every year on average (deploying 4 times in 8 years).
I wouldn’t be surprised if not having a clear mission and a sense of futility regarding the Afgani culture contribute to declining morale as well. I know that having a Commander-in-Chief finding time to golf, visit with Andy Stern 22 times and go on dates every Friday but NOT deciding my fate for 4 months would drag me down. That plus the gnawing concern that my efforts will be thrown away at the first political convenience.
Army people expect to disappear sometimes but repeated no-dependent deployments is new. This isn’t the Navy, where the 6 months a year gone requirement is known by all when they enter and that has developed support systems for families that can help.
If this persists I’m sure the Army and its members will adapt, but the transition period will be a challenge.
November 13th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
Navy policy: The average sea shore rotation period is 51 months sea duty; 36 months ashore. Once ashore, always ashore. Few split tours.
Ships “deploy” for 6-12 months, so sea duty includes time in port often for refit. This quite different from Army troop rotation.