[Salgak]

Yes, and professional soldiers have honor, and honor their committments. But committments are a two-way street: changing the lenghth of deployment while deployed is a sure-fire way to hurt morale, and guarantee a lower re-up rate. Just like the cuts in Veteran's benefits: we all signed up, with promises made by recruiters. Then, AFTER we paid our price in service, blood, and lives, some bureaucrat decides we don't deserve what we already paid for. .

[CheneyChick]

Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless-Service, Honor, Integrity, Personal Courage. These are the Army Values.

I don't disagree with you that changing the length of deployment is a morale buster and a huge challenge for retention (you have no idea how well I know this). However, we are only responsible for the commitments we make and must keep. That is the mark of a true professional.

Cheers, CC