Iraq

[den]

There is something I don't understand about the US troops in Iraq. They all appear to be reservists. Why are reserves in a battle zone? Does the US Army have any regulars over there? If not, why?

All the Australian troops in Iraq are Regs; Army, Navy and Airforce. Their job is full-time Armed Services. The Reservists are part-timers; two weeks training a year and they hold down jobs and support their families.They're called up when the Regs are in trouble, not INSTEAD of the Regs.

Can anyone explain this to me?

Comments

[zibblsnrt.livejournal.com]

They aren't all reservists, although a lot of them are. The US generally uses its reservists far more readily than most countries do, though

The short answer is that the regulars are overextended as it is. The Pentagon's had to dip into the inactive reserves in the past few months, which is really scraping the bottom of the barrel.