Cody briefed reporters at West Fort Hood about the visit just prior to flying back to Washington.
“The question I was most asked was, ‘how long will we be on the 15-month deployments?’” Cody said.
“And I couldn’t give them a good answer. Because the 15-month boots-on-the-ground decision-making mode was part of putting five brigade combat teams into Iraq,” Cody said.
He said he explained to family members that the Army made the announcement early so that brigades preparing to deploy would know they would have at least 12 months back home at station before they had to deploy again.
Cody said the Army has 23 combat brigade teams in Iraq and Afghanistan and only 15 active-duty brigades back home.
“We had to extend the units over there to ensure that the 15 brigades that are resetting equipment would have 12 months at home with their families,” he said.
Cody said 15-month deployments would last at least until June 2008 before shrinking them back to 12-month deployments while still maintaining close to the current 160,000 soldiers in Iraq.
Asked about the mood of Fort Hood families, Cody said they are truly remarkable.
“I talked with the brigade wives from across the 1st Cav Division and the 4th Infantry Division and everywhere I go with my wife and my staff I’m absolutely amazed at the resiliency and the strength of our Army families,” Cody said.
“They are really the unsung heroes of this war.”
Cody said in recent weeks he has visited Fort Bliss, Fort Cochran, Fort Louis and the National Training Center at Fort Irwin where Fort Hood’s 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment is training. He said he is amazed at their strength and flexibility.
He said several Army wives at Fort Hood Tuesday told him during the day what a great job the Central Texas community was doing taking care of soldiers here.
“So I walked away with some things at the Army level I know we need to do,” Cody said. “But I also walked away feeling good about the resiliency of our Army families.”
Cody was asked if he thought the Sept. 15 report on Iraq due from Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker would indicate some improvements over past months.
“You are asking me questions that are outside my purview,” Cody said. “I’m not trying to dodge you but as the vice chief of staff of the Army my role is to ensure that III Corps is properly trained, (oversee) military construction, (oversee) building new formations and tend to the resources of our soldiers, recruiting, retention and training.”
He said he anticipates Crocker and Patraeus will brief the joint chiefs and the executive staff on September 15 and then report to Congress.
“I don’t anticipate seeing that report until they render it,” he said. “I’ll probably watch it on C-SPAN just like everybody else.”
hclark@temple-telegram.com
