Washington – The Marine Corps may need to increase in size to sustain deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan without sacrificing needed training or putting undue stress on the corps, the new Marine commandant said Wednesday.
At a breakfast meeting with reporters, Gen. James Conway also warned that it could take years to adequately train and equip the Iraqi security forces – longer, perhaps, “than the timeline that we probably feel … our country will support.”
“This is tough work, it doesn’t happen overnight,” and patience by the American people will be needed, he said. On the plus side, he said Marines he’s talked to in recent days are encouraged by the progress they are seeing among Iraqi forces.
Conway said the current pace of Marine rotations to Iraq – seven months there and seven to nine months at home – is limiting other types of training that units can receive and could eventually prompt Marines to leave the service.
The goal, he said, is for units to spend twice the amount of time at home as is spent on deployment – for example, seven months deployed and 14 months at home. At the same time, Conway would not rule out extending the Iraq tours for some Marine units if needed for a short period of time.
