General Cody: Military needs more troops or increased use of Guard, Reserves

FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kansas: Gen. Richard Cody, the Army's No. 2 officer, said Friday the nation can meet its military needs in Iraq without reinstating the draft.

"A draft will not solve our problems," the four-star general said. "The Army needs people to volunteer for service, and because of the complexity of the skill sets, we need them for four years."

Cody was at Fort Leavenworth to address the 250 graduates of the Command and General Staff College to give them a "quick state of the Army."

"We used to go to this school and not much changed in 10 months, but our Army is moving so fast," Cody said.

Cody said the Army could meet the demands of fighting the insurgency in Iraq, where U.S. forces have been deployed since 2003, by continuing to rely on an all-volunteer force. However, without replacing equipment and building new active-duty brigades, the military will be forced to call upon the National Guard and reserves.

Read the rest at the International Herald Tribune

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