How Much??: In an estimate on the cost of President Bush’s planned 20,000 troop surge in Iraq, the Congressional Budget Office points out that the surge doesn’t include necessary support personnel. CBO notes that the norm for DOD “over the past few years” has been to deploy 9,500 per combat brigade—a mix of 4,000 combat troops and 5,500 support troops. Using this as its basis, CBO estimates DOD would send 48,000 troops, which would cost over a four-month period about $13 billion. If that number were deployed for 12 months, the cost would rise to $27 billion. However, CBO states, estimating the cost of deploying additional troops to Iraq is difficult because DOD’s monthly reports on war obligations “do not contain sufficient detail on many cost elements, nor do they include information on key factors such as personnel levels or the pace of operations.”
Lt. Gen. Jason T. Hinds took charge of NATO Allied Air Command and U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa on Oct. 31, one day after being confirmed for the post by the Senate.
