Pentagon Drops Time Limit On Active Soldier Duty...Change Reflects Iraq War Strain...

Personnel Chief Says Added Service Time “No Big Deal”…

Associated Press ROBERT BURNS January 11, 2007 08:09 PM

ThePentagon has abandoned its limit on the time a citizen-soldier can be required to serve on active duty, officials said Thursday, a major change that reflects an Army stretched thin by longer-than-expected combat inIraq.

The day afterPresident Bush announced his plan for a deeper U.S. military commitment in Iraq, Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters the change in reserve policy would have been made anyway because active-duty troops already were getting too little time between their combat tours.

READ FULL STORY