European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 13, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday april 132007 stars and stripes Page 3 some gis not shocked by longer Tours stars and stripes the pentagons wednesday announcement of longer combat Tours for Active duty soldiers has drawn mixed reaction from troops throughout Europe head ing downrange for some members of the 1st armoured division Headquarters scheduled for Iraq in the late sum Mer the news that deployments have changed from 12 to 15 months held Little Surprise we were told in the beginning that5s probably How much we were going to do said sgt Kim Berly Hodge 24 from Rosemont Calif it want a big Surprise to me still Hodge a Mechanic for 1st ads division maintenance Sec Tion would rather find out now that her units been extended than after Shes already in Iraq it gives you time to prepare to stay that Long said Hodge whose husband is also in the Mili tary it gives your family time to prepare for it that Little Consolation to some families who were hoping for the Best my wife absolutely does not want to hear about it said pvt Curtis Huselton 24 whose family his wife and four Young Chil Dren just arrived in Germany after nearly a year apart she Doest like the idea that in going to Iraq at All he also broke the news to his two older children Ages 6 and 5 the youngest Are 3v2monthold twins they dont really under stand what it is i do said Husel ton a Mechanic who works with Hodge i have a big family so if s going to be kind of hard on me and on them he said Huselton who has never deployed has mixed feelings about Means bonuses for affected gis by Lisa Burgess stars and stripes Arlington a All soldiers serving the new 15month Tours in Central com Mand will still receive the army Extension Bonus for serv ing More than a year in theater according tar Secretary of defense Robert Gates the new 15month rotations announced wednesday Are effective immediately for All Active duty units already in Central com Mand which includes Iraq Afghanistan Kuwait Qatar the Horn of Africa and a num Ber of other african and Middle East nations Gates said All those that deploy in the future also will serve 15month Tours but the Pentagon will still give All extended troops the same per month Exten Sion Bonus it promised under the 12month rotation meaning soldiers serving All 15 months will see an extra in compensation according to army policy the Extension Bonus kicks in on the first Day of the month so soldiers who spend just one Day past the 12rnonth requirement will receive the so if soldiers spend a year and one Day deployed they will receive the additional for that month even if they leave be fore the months end like All bonuses troops earn in combat zones the Extension Bonus is tax free the Extension policy Doest change Rota Tion length for the army National guard and Reserve marines airmen or sailors according to Marine Gen Peter Pace chair Man of the joint chiefs of staff marines currently serve seven month Tours in combat zones Pace said the Marine rotations actually work out about the same As the new army policy on a month Permont comparison the army will up to 15 months overseas 12 months Back so  be deployed 15 months out of 27 he said marines will stay with what they have which is seven Over six Back seven Over six Back so  have 14 out of 26 two army units in Cen com have at ready been extended in 2007 Gates noted and Wal hot be affected by the new policy the first 3200 soldiers from the 10th Mountain divisions 3rd combat team had their yearlong Afghanistan tour extended by 120 Days in january the other unit the 1st brigade combat team of the Minnesota National guards 34th infantry division found out their year Long Ira tour was being extended by an additional 126 Days on Jan 16 but those troops would not have been covered by the new policy anyway since they Are part of the army Reserve component email Lisa Burgess at the deployment itself but said Hes sure if s an experience he wont forget and he remaining optimistic about the possibilities for bonding with his unit and learning new things they can shorten our tour when we get Down there he said anything can happen but just plan on doing 15 maj Nick Sternberg Public affairs officer for the 173rd air borne brigade said the unit weeks away from deploying to Afghanistan was waiting for More word before commenting on the Extension obviously by this state we know that we will be affected be cause the Secretary of defense made an announcement that All Active duty units would be affected he said adding that the Only notification received so far came from the Media and that More in formation was to Coine from the Pentagon late thursday most of the brigades soldiers in Schwein Furt and Bamberg in Germany and Vicenza Italy Are currently on the Standard Block leave that units take before rotating into combat maj Ryan Dillon Public affairs officer for the Southern european task Force airborne said he didst think the Extension would cause much change for the Vari Ous groups geared to support fam Ilies on bases around Europe we will support families whether the Soldier is deployed for three months 12 months Tor 15 months he said spouses of soldiers in the 596th maintenance company Are fret Ting Over the new policy their better halves deployed in septem Ber and the Hope was that the Darmstadt based unit would re turn a year later the families Are the ones who suffer said army staff sgt Ivan Figueroa the company reared pachment Liaison for family Readi Ness groups this morning i got a lot of Calls As Good Fortune would have it Figueroa was in the process of finalizing plans for a unit Field trip Friday for the children and spouses of deployed soldiers More than 100 people had signed up to go on the Daylong bus trip to Lego land Down near Stuttgart another trip is planned for june to Ber Lin Figueroa said the spouses Hes heard from Are concerned and a bit confused by the news Hes advised them to wait and give the Issue time to get sorted out these trips Are Good for the spouses morale Figueroa said staff writers Matt Millham Mark Stclair Kent Harris and Kevin Dougherty contributed to this report correction in the april 12 travel Sec Tion the credit for photo graphs from the Jura France Region was incorrect the Pho tos were taken by freelancer Leah Larmon front Row treatment for soldiers serving their new country Barbara of the us army thirteen soldiers from the Southern european task Force airborne became us citizens wednesday by taking their oaths in the base theater on Caserma Ederle in Vicenza Italy in front of hundreds of fellow soldiers the new soldiers represented 10 different countries