Analysis: Troop Boost Will Mean Longer Tours

WASHINGTON -- The military's plan for filling President Bush's order for an extra 21,500 troops in Iraq will include only one major combat unit that was not otherwise scheduled to go.

The rest of the boost will come from sending a few brigades earlier than planned and extending the tours of others. Affected will be units based in Minnesota, Kansas, Georgia and Washington, said a military official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the information had not been publicly released.

Whether the military push proves successful or not, it will have ramifications later for an Army and Marine Corps that already are stretched thin.

Some units will have less time at home for rest and retraining between tours than their commanders would like. And the faster pace of deployments could force the Pentagon to call on National Guard and Reserve units more frequently -- possibly to remobilize some that already have served in Iraq.

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