U.S. to expand Army

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WASHINGTON You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, July 20 (Xinhua) - The United States would expand the size of its Army by adding 22,000 new troops, as the military is strained by deployment to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars  You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, said the government on Monday.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters that President Barack Obama has accepted the recommendation by Secretary of the Army Pete Geren and Chief of Staff of the Army General George Casey to temporarily increase the active duty end strength of the Army by up to 22,000 You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, making the total reach 569,000 soldiers.

He told reporters at a news briefing that the increase was aimed at easing strains from operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The US Army's active duty force has been reinforced by 65,000 in recent years, but military leaders said that it is still not enough to compensate for soldiers who have left due to various reasons.

Gen. Pete Chiarelli, the Army's vice chief of staff, told a press conference last week that there have been roughly 30,000 soldiers who could not take active duty because they were injured, pregnant, suffering from post-traumatic stress or health problems, or have been assigned to other jobs.

He noted that the Army needs a temporary increase in order to fill vacancies in units heading to the battle front in Afghanistan and Iraq.

all the requirements, but at the same time it is difficult to get our units up to the operating strength they need before deployment, heading to war are not available, compared to 11 percent previously.