"I don't think anyone has a notion that we're talking about forces in addition to what's already out there," Di Rita said. "It's a question of how to use those forces in a different way."
With the Pentagon having relied heavily on reservists to fill out deployments to Iraq, military officers have warned recently that the pool of available part-time soldiers is dwindling. By later this year, when the Army is scheduled to begin its fourth rotation of troops since the invasion in March 2003, all 15 of the National Guard's most readily deployable brigades will have been mobilized.
 
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Although other Guard troops remain and could be tapped for Iraq duty, they belong to units that historically have not received the same priority in equipping and training as the brigades chosen to go in the rotations so far.
"It doesn't mean that the cupboard is bare," Lovelace said. "It just becomes a challenge then for the National Guard."
As the Army reaches farther down in the reserve force, Lovelace said, the amount of "pre-mobilization" time necessary to get the troops ready to send to Iraq is likely to increase.
"We're not going to send anybody into combat who is not trained and ready," the three-star general said. But he noted that already in each rotation, the amount of pre-mobilization time required has increased.
To continue to be able to draw on the better trained reservists, Army officials have said they are considering petitioning Rumsfeld to extend the 24-month limit on the total time a reservist could be called to active duty.
Staff writers Jonathan Weisman and Mike Allen contributed to this report.
