([1] MSNBC) [2] View article]“The Pentagon is asking National Guard troops and their families to make sacrifices like never before in Iraq and other hot spots … Gen. George Casey … acknowledged that the Guard’s wider role puts unprecedented pressure on the lives, careers and relationships for troops once considered mostly weekend warriors.… Casey told The Associated Press on Sunday that the military will push ahead with a plan announced in January for National Guard deployments of no more than a year, with troops spending five years at home before redeployment. Currently, Guard members are returning to the battlefield after only 3½ years at home.”
