US troops rotation?

Question

How does the troop rotation really work? based on the jobs I know but I would like to know does the troops that are stationed in Kuwait, Germany, Japan, South Korea, (basically non-hostile countries), etc get rotated into Iraq/Afghanistan? and the ones serving in Iraq/Afghanistan would get rotated into one of those countries after their time in Iraq/Afghanistan?

How often does one go through that rotation because I've seen mostly soldiers who only go to Iraq, come home, and go back.

thank you

i'm just wondering how can someone who just finished basic and AIT and not long after go into the hostilities in iraq while others are in germany/kuwait/japan/etc not in harms way

Answer 1

Yes, units stationed ovrseas have been rotated. Exactly how that is done and who goes where is not somethign that can be laid out in a solid timetable. It depends on readiness ratings, training statuses; we have deployment certifications which may or may not be current, and those have whole sets of criteria.

I think you may be taking a worm's-eye view of the situation. Are there personnel and units that have not deployed? Proabably?

Are there many? There are not.

And units and individuals that have not, are likely to be involved in critical support roles, or are disqualified for other reasons (medical for example).

The system is not perfectly fair. It is, however, very fair.

In my own case, I've volunteered twice for the two deployments I've had. Anotehr one is coming up and I'm proabably not going to be asked whether I want to go or not this time--I'm qualified in a job that's in need and I just got back a few months ago.

Is that fair? Maybe not entirely, but I did not have to raise my hand for that last deployment either--I put myself in this situation, not the Army.

Answer 2

not sure about rotation but I know there are lots of folks that are in Japan that have been here for more than 2 tours! And if you are military then you should know that you do a shore and then go to sea duty and depending on what is available then that is where you go. It is where ever they have room or a freaking job for you. So if you happen to get 2 tours in the same place then I guess there was not much else for you to choose from when choosing orders. But But japan is on of the places that is forward deployed so it is not like the states where you have 6 mos deployment then 6 to 12 mos at home. We are lucky if our spouses are home for 3 weeks at the time which means gone most of the year. And I know that they are also doing the individual augmentee thing too. So hope that helps. I have had a friend whose brother is a marine and has done the Iraq and back thing but marines are a little bit different than navy. Good luck

Answer 3

Marines get rotated into "down range" deployments from the States and Okinawa. Air Force units from Misawa Air Base in Northern Japan, and elsewhere, have also been in the Iraqi and Afghan Theaters of Operations. Army units from the States and Germany have participated in the Iraqi Theater and in Afghanistan. There is even a Coast Guard detachment at Bahrain Island in support of interdiction operations in the Gulf.
Army units of the Eighth Army in Korea have not been affected by deployment to either the Afghan or Iraqi Theaters of Operation.
Many units serve in both theaters over time. An example is the Tenth Mountain Division of the Army which is based at Fort Drum, New York. They are in Afghanistan, but are due to deploy to Iraq in the near future.
This is at least a "two front war", in traditional terms of previous eras. And troop deployments involving shifts in theaters of operations is nothing new. A lot of the troops who participated in Operation Overlord during the Battle of Normandy and the later Battle of the Bulge were set to deploy to the Pacific after May of 1945, in readiness for Operation Olympic, the land invasion of Japan.

Answer 4

The way the system is SUPPOSED to work (if I'm understanding you correctly) is like this:
1. No soldier is supposed to be stationed OCONUS (outside the continental U.S.) two times in a row.
2. A unit is supposed to have one year between deployments to hostile countries.
3. Soldiers who have served hardship tours are not supposed to be deployed anywhere else for a year. It doesn't always work this way though.
4. OCONUS units are the first deployed. I believe the term is "forward garrison." Our soldiers here in Germany deploy every other year.

I hope this helps.

Answer 5

Who knows how rotations work. I haven't figured that one out yet. But you will have a home base, and some of them are overseas in Germany, Japan, Korea, etc. But those units do get rotated into Iraq but when they come home they just goto their home bases in whatever country their unit is garrisoned in.