Reservists mobilized for Iraq, Afghanistan
Pentagon says more Marines needed in Iraq
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Soldiers in the 81st Armor Brigade of the Washington National Guard salute during the Pledge of Allegiance in a farewell ceremony November 19.
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An Indiana woman whose two sons are already serving in Iraq has been called to duty by the U.S. Army. WRTV's Jeremy Brilliant reports (November 27)
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| TROOP ROTATION PLAN |
14,398 MOBILIZED IRAQ
• 9,900 Army
• 1,290 Navy
• 3,208 Air Force
7,899 ALERTED IRAQ
• 4,228 Army
• 1,290 Navy
• 2,381 Air Force
3,060 MOBILIZED AFGHANISTAN
• 2,955 Army
• 100 Marine Corps
• 5 Air Force reserve
672 ALERTED AFGHANISTAN
• 567 Army
• 100 Marine Corps
• 5 Air Force
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Troops and their families and employers will soon find out if they will be affected by the Pentagon's latest mobilization of 17,000 reservists for duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In addition those mobilized Wednesday, nearly 8,000 reservists have been alerted for deployment to Iraq and around 700 for deployment to Afghanistan.
The announcements affect Army and Air Force National Guard and Reserves as well as Navy and Marine Corps Reserves.
The Pentagon also said three battalions of Marines and support units -- as many as 3,000 people -- will get orders for deployment to Iraq.
The Marines will be used to make up for the failure of the United States to get enough commitments from other countries to field a third multinational division. There are already divisions led by the Polish and British.
The reservist mobilizations and alerts are part of a troop rotation plan for Iraq and Afghanistan that was announced at a Pentagon briefing earlier this month. Most of the troops will be deployed to Iraq.
At that November 6 briefing, officials said they were aiming to bring the total number of troops in Iraq down to 105,000 by May, compared with the current 130,000.
The Pentagon did not announce the specific Reserve and Guard units mobilized and alerted, but it said Army reservists could be mobilized for up to 18 months and Marine reservists for up to a year.
At the briefing earlier this month, Army Lt. Gen. Richard A. Cody, deputy chief of staff, said the Pentagon hopes to stick to a 12-month "boots on the ground" policy.
Meanwhile, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, is seeking federal aid for police departments hard hit by the activation of reservists and National Guardsmen among police ranks.
Schumer claims the call-ups are costing Long Island counties of Nassau and Suffolk more than $3 million.
CNN's Larry Shaughnessy contributed to this report.
