Spouses of soldiers in Iraq have an indefinite wait for the return of their loved ones.

As the U.S. army postponed a summer homecoming for disappointed thousands of troops, the top civilian administrator said the length of the U.S occupation was in Iraqis’ hands.

Maj. Gen. Buford C. Blount III, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, said last week he hoped the division’s 1st and 2nd Brigade Combat Teams of roughly 9,000 soldiers could return home to Fort Stewart within the next six weeks.

But the timing of homecomings for those soldiers, as well as the division’s 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, is now indefinite.

The units have been ordered to stay “due to the uncertainty of the situation in Iraq and the recent increase in attacks on the coalition forces,” Blount said Monday in an e-mail message to Army spouses that was obtained by The Associated Press.

Let’s hope it’s a brief wait for a wholly safe return.

In the meantime, please continue your support of:

• TroopTrax.
• Home Front.
• And a host of other programs reaching out to our troops and their families.

It really does make a difference.

Tuesday, July 15th, 2003, 7:44 am   |   War Bites  |  RSS feed Comments and pings are currently closed.