WASHINGTON, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Army said on Monday that 301 soldiers newly returned from Iraq have been ordered to go back to the Middle Eastern country to help beef up security in Baghdad.
The soldiers, recalled from the 3,900-strong 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team based in Fort Wainwright, Alaska, were among the 378 who returned from Iraq just weeks ago, after having served in Iraq for one year.
They would leave for Iraq around next week and could stay there up to four months, under an order approved by the U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on July 27.
The brigade was in the process of flowing out of Iraq after its year-long tour, when Rumsfeld issued the order and the bulk of the unit was still in Iraq.
Another 300 soldiers from the unit had left Iraq and arrived in Kuwait, and were about to board their flights home when they were called back.
The recalling of newly-returned troops back to Iraq dampened any hope in the near future, of a significant reduction in the 135,000-strong U.S. forces in Iraq .
"Of course, this comes as a huge disappointment to the families and perhaps a greater disappointment to the kids that were really expecting dads and moms home," Major General Charles Jacoby, commander of U.S. Army, Alaska, told reporters in Pentagon.
U.S. Army soldiers usually serve 12-month tours in Iraq and Marines serve seven-month tours. Soldiers serving longer than one year will receive an extra 1,000 U.S. dollars in pay each month, according to the Army. Enditem
