European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 12, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                              Page 6 stars and stripes Mideast edition april 2007 Dodo extend army Tours by Leo Shane Iii stars and stripes Washington army units deployed to Iraq will serve 15month Tours instead of the Standard 12 months Over Secretary of defense Robert Gates announced the move would affect a Tiv duty soldiers already in country and future deploy ments to with the exception of two army units whose Tours in Iraq have already been reservists and guardsmen would not see their tour lengths without this action we would have had to deploy five brigades earlier than their scheduled 12 months at Gates i believe it is fair to All soldiers that All share the Burden Gates said the move is not connected to the latest surge of forces into but instead related to the difficulty of ensuring that All units receive a full 12 months at Home after their overseas he said the new 15month Tours will allow All units to see that full year at Home once their deployments Are Fin our forces Are there is no question about he currently about troops Are stationed in plans Call for More than when the buildup is Complete in Early in addition to the tour Exten defense officials this week announced that National guard troops were or dered to prepare for possible deployment to Iraq As Early As Gates said the soldiers will receive an additional financial compensation for the three extra months in on wednesday Iraq spokesman Ali Aldabbagh spoke out against premature withdrawal of say ing that would create an Opportunity for Iran and the Al Aida terror network to make inroads in the associated press contributed to this email Leo Shane at  photos Courtesy of the Navy left members of Mobile Security Squadron detachment show off hand knit Caps donated by a women group in new Jersey shortly after arriving on the iraqi Oil terminal Basra in in More than 60 sailors from the Squadron helped train iraqi marines in guarding two offshore iraqi Oil terminals in the Northern persian Gulf for six right Petty officer 1st class Jeffrey a master at shoots an m500 Shotgun from the terminal during routine target training in seizure May stall Transfer of Oil Rig iraqis were to assume Security for area where brits were captured by Jennifer Svan stars and stripes the recent capture of 15 Brit ish sailors and marines could delay the handover of Security for Iraq Oil platforms to iraqi said Guam based sail ors who recently returned from the they confrontations with the iranians though mainly from a distance were not in iranian forces captured British forces March a Day after to bile Security Squadron detach ment 73 left the Oil said Navy Aaron the detachment the British sailors and marines were conducting a Security sweep of a tug coming into one of the Oil platforms the same Job the Guam sailors Bergman the British took Over that Mission for a few Days until the incoming sailors of Mobile Security detach ment 24 from were ready to Bergman we were really surprised that did he we did have encounters with the Irani ans that were intense but nothing More than it was More of just a visual standoff dont come any closer to we wont come any closer to another potential Holdup to the Handoff is the iraqi military logistics and Supply there Good at but what they Lack is the ability to re Bergman they have trouble getting things like batteries even ammo for their until that they wont be Able to sustain a Force on the six months is a Long time to live in a shipping Container on a giant steel grate at least 85 feet above the that a lot of a lot of a lot of and Why the sailors of detachment from naval base Are Happy to be but despite the austere living in the Northern persian the sailors said there was something special about the deployment be cause of the importance of the Mission and camaraderie that grew from touching it on an Oil Rig 14 Miles out to More than 60 sailors deployed with the Squadron in mid septem Ber mostly masters alarms but also a few gunners mates and two half returned March and the rest arrived on Guam on april we were Bergman tired companies refusing to to Apo or Fpo address cd for your St we cooked our own did our own pre on top of the Normal duties we had to do for training and Protection of the picked up regularly in Kuwait by Small was easier to come by than water was but was Only drinkable after a pro Cess to remove the life on the platforms was an in even rhythm of 18to20hour workdays interspersed with the occasional absolutely nothing to Bergman sailors used free time to build shelves or desks to enhance living they worked read and studied for College said Petty officer 3rd class Gregory of a Mas Chaney was on the sea marshal which boarded Oil vessels to Check clearance and sweep for Riding the ship until it moored at the i enjoyed the Chaney out you feel like youre actually doing some under the Guam sailors about 13 billion barrels of fuel was pumped from the plat Bergman the amount of Cash that flowed through there was Phe he that Basi Cally whats supporting the iraqi government in that we really do feel like we were email Jennifer Svan at  Call Home today at lowest rates from your cell or land line get it Basting customers please Contact us to request new Tower rates landline or cellular to 48 us states Bahrain Qatar Afghanistan refer your friends and receive a credit of 5 of Friar billed usage Ever they use the service calling services lowest rates from local number cellphones Ali no 1 easy sign up anytime pay by credit us Bank debit Persona for family to cat you Contact Militell military since 1994 us direct 14023927513