U.S. Army schedules troop rotations in Bosnia for next 5 years

From CNN Military Affairs Correspondent Jamie McIntyre

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In a tacit admission that U.S. troops will not be leaving Bosnia anytime soon, the U.S. Army has drawn up a schedule for rotating its troops there over the next five years.

The Army on Monday said its troop rotation plan relies heavily on National Guard and Reserve units to ease the growing burden on active-duty troops in staffing the six-month tours of duty.

That reliance is evident in the Army's placement of Army National Guard divisions in command of six of the next eight rotations of the United States' contribution to the NATO Stabilization Force in Bosnia.

MESSAGE BOARD The U.S. military

U.S. armed forces have played a role in Bosnia since 1995, when they arrived as part of an international NATO mission to implement peace after years of civil war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Monday's announcement comes as the Army reports its resources are being stretched thin by the requirements of peacekeeping missions in the Balkans, both in Bosnia, and in Kosovo.

"Since 1989, the number of Army deployments has grown by over 300 percent, yet the Army's active and reserve forces have shrunk by over 40 percent," the Army said.

The Army attributes the overall reduction in troop numbers to the "missions of the post-Cold War environment" and "downsizing."

"With approximately 54 percent of the Army now in the reserve forces, the Army routinely calls upon the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard to help carry out the national military strategy," the statement said.

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Bosnia Herzegovina and the UN
BosniaLINK
NATO/SFOR, history
U.S. Army
The Army National Guard

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