Friday, Jul. 31, 2009

Some new troops will train at Ft. Jackson

Although the Army plans to increase its strength by 22,000 troops over the next three years, no decision has been made about how many additional recruits might train at Fort Jackson.

Whatever the decision, Fort Jackson probably won’t need to add more personnel or units to handle the additional recruits, said Col. Kevin Shwedo, deputy commander.

“I think that right now we are manned and structured well enough to handle the flow,” Shwedo said Thursday.

The Army plans to increase the number of active-duty soldiers to 569,000 from the current level of 547,000. Adding 22,000 troops to the Army’s payroll “will be achieved by both recruiting and retention,” said Douglas Smith, spokesman for the Army’s Recruiting Command.

Having more troops will help relieve some of the pressure and stress that multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan have had on soldiers, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said.

Fort Jackson, the Army’s largest training center, expects to train 47,000 recruits this year for active-duty, Reserve and National Guard units.

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