Marine reserves may see second tour

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, October 18, 2006

WASHINGTON – The Marines are planning to send back to Iraq at least some reserve combat battalions that have already served one tour there, officials said Wednesday – the first time such units would be returned to the war.

The plan to remobilize those reserve forces is designed to relieve some of the growing strain on active-duty Marines.

A Marine Corps spokesman, Lt. Col. Scott Fazekas, said Defense 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.

The Army, which is organized differently than 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 Guard. 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. Thus, the first picked to go back probably would be remobilized next year to train for the mission.

The plan, put forward by Gen. Michael Hagee, the Marine commandant, could be modified as the situation in Iraq changes, 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 this unusual step in order to alleviate a problem that both the Marines and the Army are wrestling with as the Iraq war rages on unabated: wear-and-tear on the active-duty troops, who are getting far less time at home to recuperate and retrain than military leaders would like.

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