Five years in Iraq strain U.S. Army, force change

By Andrew Gray - Analysis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Before he has turned 30, U.S. Army Capt. Jaron Wharton has served two yearlong tours in the Iraq war, felt the severe strain on soldiers and seen the Army change the way it fights.

In many ways, Wharton's experiences mirror those of the Army as a whole in the five years since U.S. troops invaded Iraq and raced to Baghdad to topple Saddam Hussein's regime.

"Our patrols were treated like floats in a Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade," Wharton recalled of the early days. "People were really, really thankful."

But as the scenes of jubilation gave way to a deadly insurgency, Iraq has become the biggest test the U.S. military has faced without a draft since the fight for independence from Britain in the 1775-83 Revolutionary War.

Nearly 4,000 U.S. troops have died in Iraq, more than 3,200 of them killed in action. Almost 30,000 have been wounded.

When he returned to Iraq for his second tour in November 2005, Wharton found a tougher environment. One sergeant was hit by three bomb attacks during an 18-hour patrol, he recalled.

Some U.S. soldiers are now on their third or fourth tours. Deployments have been extended from a year to 15 months, with only a year at home between tours.

The long deployments take a heavy toll on personal relationships, said Wharton, whose wife is also an Army captain who has served two tours.

"In most of these deployments, the girlfriend, she's not there at the end," said Wharton, 29, of Hoover, Alabama, who has also served in Afghanistan. "Fiancees are hit or miss. And sometimes even wives are gone."

More than one in four soldiers on their third or fourth Iraq tours suffer mental health problems, an Army survey found.

MAJOR IMPACT

As well as the personal toll on soldiers, the war has had a major impact on the military as an institution, above all on the Army, which has done most of the fighting.

It exposed a medical system that was ill-equipped to provide long-term care for a large number of wounded warriors.

It has eroded the U.S. military's ability to fight another major war. Commanders have said the Air Force and Navy would likely have to take the lead if a new conflict arose, because ground forces are so stretched.

The strain has prompted the United States to start expanding the Army by 65,000 active-duty troops for a total force of 547,000. The Marine Corps is also growing.