Marine reserves face second call-up

The US Marines are drawing up plans to send back to Iraq at least some reserve combat battalions that have already served one tour there, the first time such units would be returned to the war.

The plan to remobilise the reserve forces is designed to relieve growing strain on active-duty Marines.

Marine Corps spokesman Lt Col Scott Fazekas said defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld gave the Marines the go-ahead to conduct detailed planning on how the battalion reactivations would be done.

Initially, Fazekas said Rumsfeld had approved the plan itself. Later he said the approval was for detailed planning.

Eric Ruff, a spokesman for Rumsfeld, said early today that no specific proposals had been presented to Rumsfeld.

“The Marines are reviewing a range of options and concepts for future consideration by the secretary and, to date, nothing has been approved,” he said.

The US Army, which is organised differently from the Marine Corps, has not sent any of its National Guard combat brigades back to Iraq for a second tour, although it is considering making more use of the units.

Both the Marines and Army have sent reserve support units and active-duty forces to Iraq multiple times.

The return of Marine Reserve combat battalions to Iraq would begin in 2008, according to a senior Marine officer who did not want to be identified. The first picked to go back would probably be remobilised next year to train for the mission.

The plan, put forward by General Michael Hagee, the Marine commandant, could be modified as the situation in Iraq changed, officials said. For planning purposes, the Marines are working out future force rotations that would include at least one reserve combat battalion starting in 2008.

The Marines have decided to take the unusual step in order to alleviate a problem that both the Marines and the Army are wrestling with as the Iraq war rages unabated – wear and tear on active-duty troops, who are getting far less time at home to recuperate and retrain than military leaders would like.

The short respites between combat tours are not only a morale issue but also an obstacle to providing soldiers and Marines with sufficiently varied training and adequate time to attend professional development schools.

The Marines have 24 active-duty combat battalions. At any given time, nine of them are in Iraq.

To increase the amount of time between deployments, the Marines have decided to make more use of their reserve combat battalions, of which there are nine.

The main restriction the Marine Corps faces is a 24-month limit on the amount of time a reservist can be mobilised, so those who were on active duty for more than 12 months the first time will not be remobilised, since the planned mobilisations would be for 12 months, Fazekas said.

Marine battalions typically serve seven-month tours in Iraq. Marine reserve units are mobilised for 12 months, to include pre-deployment training, seven months in Iraq and then a period of demobilisation.