'This Is Tough News': Soldiers and Their Families Brace for Extended Tours

Since Dubois arrived in Iraq in October, his battalion -- part of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Cavalry Division -- has lost more than 20 soldiers in bombings and other attacks in Diyala province. Dubois said he believes the violence he faces each day would overwhelm Iraq's fledgling democracy if American soldiers depart too soon.

"If we pull out of here right now, it's going to be total chaos. We're going to be back to doing it all over again in 10 more years or 20 more years, and I don't want my son to have to come back over here and take my place," said Dubois, whose son was born in November.

The three-month extension applies to all active-duty soldiers currently deployed or going to Iraq and Afghanistan. Typically soldiers receive 15 days of vacation during a year-long tour, and for those deployed in war zones, the rest of the tour consists of seven-day weeks of duty, often round-the-clock.

Several soldiers said they have been told they will receive $1,000 a month in bonus pay for the extended time in Iraq; a private's base pay is about $1,500 a month.

Maj. Dave Goetze perhaps had that bonus in mind Thursday when he ordered a new iPod on his base in eastern Baghdad. "Twelve months, I could do without it. But 15 months, gotta go for it," said Goetze, a member of the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division who deployed Feb. 4.

At their base, FOB Rustamiyah, word spread of the prolonged tour of duty a day after a memorial ceremony for the battalion's first casualty and a few minutes after a rocket crashed down just outside the front gate. The extension struck some as another grievous blow.

"I was mad before I even heard about the 15 months. I don't want to be here. I don't think you need to sit here an extra three months to help people do what they don't want to do for their dadburn selves," said Sgt. Shawn Miller, 30. "To me, if you've been here four years and the country ain't straight, why extend another three months? Why don't we just go?"

In Washington, during a visit to Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Thursday, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the Army chief of staff, said the extension was requested by the Army because the alternative was to cut short the amount of time troops have at home between tours.

"We had to make a choice, whether to stick with the 12 months at home, or stick with 12 months in Iraq," he told reporters. "And we believe strongly that sticking with the 12 months at home allows us to provide trained and ready forces to the combatant commanders, and gives us a level of predictability that we didn't have until now."

At the Pentagon, Lt. Gen. James J. Lovelace, the Army's operations chief, said Thursday that a return to the 12-months-on, 12-months-off rotation could happen only after the number of combat brigades in Iraq and Afghanistan dropped below 15. At present, 19 are deployed and plans call for the figure to peak at 22 when U.S. forces in Iraq reach full strength under the Bush administration's "surge" plan.

It had been 2 1/2 weeks since Spec. Steven Johns had spoken with his wife in Lusby, Md., but he opened his e-mail Thursday to find a note from her wondering when he was coming home. He was expecting to leave Iraq in June. Now he doesn't know if he will make his one-year wedding anniversary in October.

"I'm not happy about it. It's a rough thing, man, this isn't the best place to be," he said, lighting a cigarette outside the call center on base in Baqubah.

U.S. Army Col. David W. Sutherland, commander of about 5,000 American soldiers in Diyala province, said he had expected tours of 14 to 18 months, so the extension was not a surprise.

"The troops are always in denial. They'll complain about it, that's what they're supposed to do," he said. "The bottom line is the chain of command establishes the way we do things. . . . Everyone wants a quick win, everyone wants everything secured right away. It doesn't work that way. The enemy has a vote and they have a big vote. They're a determined enemy."

Moreno reported from Fort Hood. Staff writers David Finkel in Baghdad, Steve Vogel in Washington and Ann Scott Tyson at the Pentagon contributed to this report.