MoD set to DOUBLE front line tours.

[Observer_1938]

MoD set to DOUBLE the time troops spend on the front-line to a year


Fears are growing that tens of thousands of British soldiers will have the duration of their front-line tours doubled to a year.

Senior officers serving in Afghanistan have already seen their tours extended by up to six months.

And military experts fear it is a precursor to the hard-pressed Ministry of Defence forcing all troops to serve overseas for longer.

The experts point out that while our Service personnel currently return home after six months abroad, American soldiers already do one-year tours ? a fact the MoD could use to help justify doubling the duration of British deployments.

Any extension of overseas tours is certain to prove deeply unpopular with troops ? particularly married personnel ? and could persuade even more experienced soldiers to quit.

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=496205&in_page_id=1770&ito=newsnow

[kiwi]

I thought they were moving them out, damn I must be slow. Anyway, the US spends a year on Deployments, so I can't see why Brits would not follow suit.

[sniper]

Because they are a bit smarter,  we also learn't the hard way.  but when compared to time of o/s service in ww1 and ww2 6 or 12 months is nothing.

[Crusty]

True, Sniper. Long deployments degrade the performance of troops. The last time British Forces used long deployments was during the Indonesion 'Confrontation' in Borneo, when the average length of tour was 12 months.

With the drastic reduction of 'boots on the ground' following 'Options For Change' post cold-war, the Brits no longer have the man power for short tours with a two year gap between operations.

[sniper]

Aint we learning all over again, with current Deploys of Afganistan,Timor,Solomons, Malaysia, Iraq, And the many and varied UN jobs going on. 6 on 6 off is pretty normal

[Collo]

Our rotations are working for now however we are heading on the same path as the US and the UK.