Pentagon extends Army unit in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Army has ordered a headquarters unit in Afghanistan to remain up to 50 days past its yearlong tour in what officials say could be the start of longer postings in the war.

Army officials on Thursday said the troops extensions will ensure continuity in Afghanistan.

As many as 200 senior soldiers and officers in the 82nd Airborne Division could stay up to 50 days longer in Kabul. The division is based out of Fort Bragg, N.C.

Additionally, soldiers with the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade from Fort Stewart, Ga., may stay two more weeks in Afghanistan before returning home.

The extensions will give soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division Headquarters a full year at home before heading back to Afghanistan next spring. The 101st is based out of Fort Campbell, Ky.

In a statement Thursday evening, Lt. Gen. J.D. Thurman, the Army's deputy chief of staff for operations, said the changes will "develop greater campaign continuity in regard to maximizing experience and stability" in the war in Afghanistan.

The move marks what one Army official called one of the first times a unit has been extended in Afghanistan since Defense Secretary Robert Gates last year cut the length of time that troops are in war zones from 15 to 12 months.

Asked if troops on front lines may soon face similar extensions, an Army official would not rule that out. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because that decision has not yet been made.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman did not immediately know the last time a unit had been ordered to extend its time in a war zone, but said it has happened at least once since Gates' policy change last year.

Whitman called the extensions a necessary part of counterinsurgency operations.

"This allows people to go back to an area where they know the terrain, they know the enemy, they know the population -- all things that are very important when you're involved in a counterinsurgency fight," Whitman said.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)