President Bush announced today that American troops will serve shorter deployments in the war zone of Iraq. Bush says the change will affect units heading overseas after August 1st. The president also pledged that soldiers will continue to stay home for a year between deployments. Troops began doing longer, 15-month rotations in 2006 in order to beef up the number of soldiers in Iraq. The Fairbanks-based Stryker Brigade was one of the first units kept in-country longer than a year when its tour was extended in July 2006, just weeks before its soldiers were scheduled to come home.
Joel Southern, APRN – Washington, DC & Libby Casey, KUAC – Fairbanks
