During a press conference held in the fall of 2007, Maj. Gen. Richard Sherlock announced the Army's goal to make dwell time equal to deployed time.

In late 2009, Secretary of the Army John M. McHugh divulged Army Chief of Staff Gen. George G. Casey Jr.'s plan to increase Army dwell time to one year deployed to three years dwell time for active duty and one year deployed to five years dwell time for reservists.

Then, last month a new plan was introduced that would reduce deployments to nine months and increase dwell time to three years.

"We're actively studying right now the timing and the possibilities of going to nine-month deployments as a standard," Casey said in an interview for an Army Times news article.

The war in Afghanistan began with 12-month deployments and continued into Iraq until 2007, when the Army extended deployments to 15 months when it sent an additional 20,000 troops there, the Army Times reported.

"Fifteen months is too long," Casey said in an interview with the Army Times. "Twelve months is too long to sustain indefinitely. Six months is too short ... . It's a volume question right now. We've got 20-some brigades deployed. They have two or three regiments. And for us to make just - you know, changing out 20, if you have - if you go to nine-month deployments over a three-year period, you need one more unit to fill. So ... the volume of the folks that we have to send over there has made it impossible for us to do that."

However, nine-month deployments seem to be best for the families and the soldiers, he said.

"We've done these mental health assessment team studies for six years now - between nine and 12 (months) is where a lot of the stress problems really manifest themselves, where the family problems really manifest themselves," Casey said in the Times article.

At the same time, he said, the Army is hoping to stretch dwell time between active duty deployments out to 36 months.

"The human mind and body wasn't made to do repeated combat deployments without substantial time to recover. In fact, our most recent mental health assessment team study has shown us it takes 24 to 36 months to fully recover from a one-year combat deployment."

Lisa Fahey thinks increased dwell time is a great idea, she said.

"It means more quality time to those new marriages, new babies and continued family life with those that have been married for a while," said Fahey, the wife of Sgt. William Fahey with the 5/2 2-1 Infantry, who has deployed twice.  "It is a healthy way of sustaining the bonds that need to be created and to continue to grow strong in those that have made the Army their life."

"Longer dwell times will allow me to build the relationship stronger within my marriage to my hubby and to the Army," she said. "In reality, that's exactly what I have done.  I married the Army and all the things that come along with it ... ."   
Currently, the Army is struggling to give soldiers two years of dwell time, but it is on track to reach an average dwell time ratio of one year deployed and two years at home for about 70 percent of the active force by late 2011, the article said.