Analysis: After 5 years of war, US military shows fatigue

An exhausted soldier takes a short break in the dessert

WASHINGTON, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Five years of warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan have left signs of wear and tear on the U.S. military, raising questions about its ability to sustain its current level of operations and confront potential new crises.

The U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, ordered following the Sept. 11 attacks, began on Oct. 7, 2001, thrusting the all-volunteer U.S. military into combat that has continued unabated there and, since March 2003, in Iraq.

Senior military officers, including Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker, have warned of falling combat readiness of some units and mounting equipment shortfalls, with Abrams tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles and other equipment battered from extended use on the battlefield.

Many troops are facing second and third long combat tours and less time between overseas deployments. At the same time, the U.S. death toll mounts, with more than 2,730 troops killed in Iraq and about 280 more in Afghanistan.

"We're in the early stages of some sort of crisis that, if not addressed, will result in breaking the force," said retired Army Col. Andrew Bacevich, a military expert at Boston University. "You'd have to be remarkably naive to think that we're going to be able to continue to place this level of stress on the force for all that much longer."

The last five years mark the first time the all-volunteer force has been tested by protracted warfare. The draft ended in 1973. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld opposes resuming it.

Lexington Institute defense analyst Loren Thompson said the Navy was the only service in genuinely good shape in a military of 1.42 million active-duty troops and 830,000 part-time reserves. "The ground forces -- the Army and the Marine Corps -- are in a very rundown and beleaguered state. And the Air Force's fleet of aircraft has become almost archaic, they're so aged," he said.

Pentagon officials defend the condition of the military.

"We are a nation at war," said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman. "The armed forces of this nation are not only up to the task, they are performing their missions superbly."

The military has been at the very least strained in sustaining the current troop levels of 141,000 in Iraq and 21,000 in Afghanistan. For example, it has had to postpone the scheduled departure of two 4,000-strong Army combat brigades from Iraq and accelerate the deployment of a third.

With the Army and Marines stretched thin, the Pentagon has converted thousands of Navy and Air Force personnel into ground troops to do jobs like driving trucks and guarding detainees.

Read the rest at the International Herald Tribune