Drawing Down Troops From Iraq

DRAWING DOWN TROOPS FROM IRAQ "As a candidate for president, I pledged to bring the war in Iraq to a responsible end, so today I can SO report that, as promised, the rest of our troops in Iraq will come home by the end of the year." -President Barack Obama Oct. 21, 2011 THE WITHDRAWAL CURRENT U.S. 1,425,113 ACTIVE SERVICE MEMBERS MILITARY STATUS 15% ARE ACTIVE INTERNATIONALLY NEARLY 1.5 MILLION HAVE SERVED IN IRAQ SINCE 2003 ACTIVE IN IRAQ PROGRESS 17% The number of troops in Iraq has been reduced by 57% in just two months. 3% 56% 24% 46,000 in Sept. 20,000 in Nov. TATES Marines U.S. AIR FORCE NAVY U.S.ARMY NIEARLY ALL 401,CICICI LI.S. SERVICE MEMBERS WILI. BE REMOVED FROM IRAÇI BY 2012. Only 200 U.S. military personnel will remain to guard the American embassy in Baghdad and maintain a military relationship with the Iraqi Armed Forces. TIME SERVED FATALITIES WOMEN SERVICE MEMBERS 4,885 15% of active U.S. service members are women. U.S.SERVICE MEMBERS Since 2003, 206,000 women have served in the Middle East, mostly in Iraq. have died in Iraq 80% in hostile/20% non-hostile incidents 2,200 children have lost a parent in Iraq or Afghanistan. MULTIPLE DEPLOYMENTS Since 2008, nearly 2.7 million active-duty service members have been deployed; of those, 40% have been deployed multiple times. # OF DEPLOYMENTS 60% 31 out of 44 Army combat brigades have been deployed multiple times to Iraq or Afghanistan. 2 27% 9% SINCE SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 4+ 4% 638,000 troops have been deployed more than once. DEPLOYMENT From Spring 2007 to Summer 2008, TIME active-duty Army combat tours were increased from 12 to 15 months. TRANSITION TO CIVILIAN LIFE EDUCATION 93% of all enlisted U.S. troops earned a high school diploma or equivalent. More than 600,000 service members have taken advantage of education funding through the G.l. Bill. The new G.I. Bill provides upfront tuition payments directly to the school, a monthly living allowance and a book stipend of $1,000 per year. *To qualify, a veteran must have served at least 90 days of active- duty service post-9/11. MENTAL HEAL TH 35% of service members who see combat will likely experience significant mental illnesses, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and depression. 20%) percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans screen positive for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression. 12% of service members report alcohol problems on post-deployment health assessment forms. In 2010, the U.S. military lost more troops to suicide than combat in Iraq & Afghanistan. *military reported 434 suicides by personnel on active duty Although military divorce rates match those of civilians, the marriages of female troops were 3 times more likely to fail than those of males. UNEMPLOYMENT HOMEILESSNESS 28% of veterans under the age of 30 are unemployed. More than 2,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have already used the Department of Veterans Affairs' homeless There are currently 900,000 unemployed veterans in the U.S. 61% of employers think they don't completely understand veterans' cilian workforce qualifications. outreach program. WHAT IS BEING DONE TO HELP? Through these new initatives and organizations, the U.S. government is committed to helping veterans: The DCOE for Psychological VOW to Hire Yellow Ribbon Health and Traumatic Heroes Act Brain Injury Program Extension of G.I. Bill and Extra tuition funding to attend Guidance in prevention, employment benefits; tax credits for unemployed vets private universities with identification and treatment of government and school mental and cerebral conditions and businesses that hire vets. matching aid. across all defense programs. huffingtonpost.com | abcnews.go.com | washingtonpost.com siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil brookings.edu | newgibill.org/post_911_gi_bill | va.gov | en.wikipedia.org congress.org/news | army.mil/article/63073/ | veteransforamerica.org whitehouse.gov | usmilitary.about.com | casefoundation.org | cnic.navy.mil stripes.com | usatoday.com/news/military | iava.org/files/IAVA_invisible_wounds_0.pdf USCSchool of Social Work