Perspective: Some U.S. troops not surprised by longer deployment

The Pentagon’s Wednesday announcement of longer combat tours for active-duty soldiers has drawn mixed reaction from troops throughout Europe heading downrange.

For some members of the 1st Armored Division Headquarters, scheduled for Iraq in the late summer, the news that deployments have changed from 12 to 15 months held little surprise.

“We were told in the beginning that’s probably how much we were going to do,” said Sgt. Kimberly Hodge, 24, from Rosemont, Calif. “It wasn’t a big surprise to me.”

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