ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

Beginning June 14, soldiers without dependents being assigned to Europe and Japan will have three-year rather than two-year tours as part of an effort to reduce transportation costs and improve readiness.

The change in Army Regulation 614-30 applies only to soldiers who are single with no dependents. It does not affect the 24-month unaccompanied or 36-month accompanied tour lengths for soldiers who have dependents.

Units are gearing up for winter and spring deployments to replace other units in Europe, Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait as part of a regular rotation of forces in support of ongoing missions.

Two 1st Infantry Division units from Fort Riley, Kan., will deploy in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve in Europe and one division unit will deploy to Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis traveled to Texas to the U.S.-Mexico border to meet with some of the estimated 5,900 active-duty U.S. troops deployed there in support of the Department of Homeland Security.

The border deployment aims to provide additional capability and capacity to U.S. Customs and Border Protection in reinforcing points of entry and shoring up the border with concertina wire and other barriers. The capabilities include engineering battalions, military police, planning teams, integrated command and control, aviation, medical and logistics assets.

A new report from the Heritage Foundation stresses the importance of military installations as a contributor to military power, citing Fort Hood, Texas, as a prime example.

Overseas rotational deployments give Army National Guard troops a level of training it would be “difficult if not impossible” to get at home, said Lt. Gen. Timothy J. Kadavy, director of the Army National Guard.

Army Special Forces soldiers are “on a glide path” to achieving balance between deployment and time back home, Lt. Gen. Kenneth Tovo told Congress.

The U.S. Army Special Operations Command commander, Tovo said the Army has been trying since 2015 “to re-establish a balance between time on deployment with time at home station for our soldiers.” By the end of 2018, the Army hopes to be on a 1-to-2 ratio of deployment to time at home, he told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

A new policy calling for administrative separation or retirement of soldiers who aren’t deployable for 12 consecutive months is aimed at cutting the burden on those who can and do deploy, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said.

The Defense Department policy is the result of concerns brought forward by the Army but will apply to all the services, Mattis said.

Sgt. Maj. of the Army Daniel A. Dailey supports a DoD proposal that would separate soldiers unable to deploy on the condition that those forced out for medical reasons are fairly treated.

Speaking at a forum sponsored by the Association of the U.S. Army’s Institute of Land Warfare, Dailey discussed a Pentagon proposal that would require units to begin administrative separation of soldiers who are not deployable for either 12 consecutive months or 12 months during an 18-month span.

The Army this week announced deployments for several units this spring and summer, including the first deployment of the new 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade.

Soldiers with the 1st SFAB out of Fort Benning, Ga., will deploy this spring to provide training and advising assistance to Afghan National Security Forces. The specialized unit is the first of its kind in the Army and the spring deployment will be its first. The second SFAB unit is being created at Fort Bragg, N.C., but has not received deployment orders.

Soldiers should be prepared for more little- or no-notice exercises as the Army puts renewed focus on training that generates deployment-ready forces.

Officials are using “reinvigorate” when talking about using the Emergency Deployment Readiness Exercise program, more home-station training and more rotations to combat training centers as ways to improve immediate deployability of units.