Order Code RS22449
Updated May 8, 2008
U.S. Forces in Iraq
JoAnne O’Bryant and Michael Waterhouse
Information Research Specialists
Knowledge Services Group
Summary
Varying media estimates of military forces in Iraq have raised concerns about the
actual number of troops deployed in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). Interest in troop
level deployments continue in 2008. Last year, a major announcement on a surge in
troop deployments to Iraq by President Bush included a planned gradual increase of
more than 20,000 U.S. troops on the ground in Baghdad and Anbar province over
several months. Since the “new strategy for Iraq” speech by the President on January
10, 2007, troop deployments gradually increased during the months of February through
October in 2007 but decreased beginning in November 2007. This report provides
solely Department of Defense (DOD) statistical information on U.S. forces serving in
Iraq. It also provides brief official information on the military units scheduled for the
next rotation of duty into Iraq. As of April 1, 2008, according to DOD, the United
States had 162,400 troops stationed in Iraq — 134,500 active component and 27,900
National Guard or Reserves. For security reasons, DOD does not routinely report the
composition, size, or specific destination of military forces deployed to the Persian Gulf.
This report will be updated upon receipt of new DOD data. For additional information
on U.S. forces, see RL34387, Operation Iraqi Freedom: Strategies, Approaches, Results
and Issues for Congress, by Catherine Dale.
Force Levels
As of April 1, 2008, according to the Department of Defense (DOD), the United
States had 162,400 military personnel deployed in Iraq. Of these, 134,500 were active
component personnel and 27,900 were National Guard and Reserves. Figures 1 and 2
provide the distribution by armed service of active component personnel. These totals do
not include 23,000 military support personnel in Kuwait, or naval personnel aboard ships
patrolling through the Persian Gulf.1
Amid concerns about U.S. troop levels, in a January 10, 2007 address to the nation,
President Bush announced an increase of more than 20,000 U.S. troops to be deployed to
Iraq as part of a new initiative in ongoing efforts to stabilize the security situation. As
1 DOD Fact Sheet, Global Commitments, December 14, 2007.
CRS-2
announced, these forces were to be primarily deployed to Baghdad and Anbar province,
the major current areas of unrest and conflict in Iraq. These additional force levels were
originally to be accomplished primarily by a stepped-up pace of military unit rotations
into Iraq and a delay for some personnel departures from that country.
However, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced on April 11, 2007, that all
active-duty Army personnel in the U.S. Central Command area would serve 15-month
tours in the region, up from the previous 12-month tour rotations.2 Since the speech on
troop deployments by President Bush and the announcement by Secretary Gates, a gradual
increase in troop deployments in Iraq occurred between February through October 2007
but troop levels decreased beginning in November 2007. Current active duty levels,
however, are still higher than reported before the surge announcement by President Bush.
Figure 1. Active Component Personnel in Iraq
(as of April 1, 2008)
97,000
100,000
80,000
60,000
40,000
23,000
9,000
20,000
5,500
0
Army
Air Force
Navy
Marine
Corps
Source: Department of Defense, Office of the Joint Chief Staff, “Boots on Ground” data.
2 American Forces Press Service, Gates Extends Army Tours in Iraq to 15 Months, April 11,
2007.
CRS-3
Figure 2. Reserve Component Personnel in Iraq
(as of April 1, 2008)
Army NG
16,000
900
Air NG
5,400
Army Rv
1,000
Air Rv
1,300
Navy Rv
3,300
Marines Rv
0
2,500
5,000
7,500
10,000 12,500 15,000 17,500
Source: Department of Defense, Office of the Joint Chief Staff, “Boots on Ground” data.
Comparative Operation Iraqi Freedom U.S. Force Levels. Overall U.S.
force levels in Iraq declined from November 2005 to January 2007, particularly the
Reserve Component. After a slight increase in February 2007, the surge built up troop
levels through October 2007. Based on DOD statistics, Figures 3 through 6 provide
comparative data on both active and reserve component force levels, including month-to-
month and year-to-year comparisons of U.S. troops in Iraq. DOD officials have declined
to project the timing or size of future force reductions, stating these will depend upon the
security situation within Iraq.
Figure 3. OIF Active Component Force Levels
(April 2007/April 2008)
97,000
100,000
80,840
90,000
Apr-07
Apr-08
80,000
70,000
60,000
50,000
25,279
40,000
23,000
30,000
3,998 5,500
20,000
9,611 9,000
10,000
0
Army
Navy
AF
MC
Source: Department of Defense, Office of Joint Chief Staff, "Boots on Ground" data.
CRS-4
Figure 4. OIF Reserve Component Force Levels
(April 2007/April 2008)
16,000
16,000 14,907
Apr-07
Apr-08
14,000
12,000
10,000
8,000
5,912
6,000
5,400
3,300
4,000
1,594
1,300
2,000
1,090
900
504 1,000
751
0
Arm y NG
Air NG
Army Rv
Air Rv
Navy Rv
Marines Rv
Source: Department of Defense, Office of the Joint Chief Staff, “Boots on Ground” data.
Figure 5. Comparative U.S. Force Levels in Iraq
(January 2007/December 2007)
180,000
160,000
140,000
161,783
157,674
167,353
120,000
144,486
150,336
134,754
164,424
100,000
144,202
156,247
165,607
80,000
137,976
60,000
128,569
40,000
20,000
0
Jan-07 Feb-07 Mar-07 Apr-07 May-07 Jun-07
Jul-07 Aug-07 Sep-07 Oct-07 Nov-07 Dec-07
Source: Department of Defense, Office of the Joint Chief Staff, “Boots on Ground” data, January 1, 2007,
through December 1, 2007.
CRS-5
Figure 6. Comparative U.S. Force Levels in Iraq
(Years 2006, 2007, 2008)
170,000
158,400
160,000
150,000
137,365
134,754
140,000
130,000
120,000
Feb 2006
Feb 2007
Feb 2008
Source: Department of Defense, Office of the Joint Chief Staff, “Boots on Ground” data.
Operation Iraqi Freedom Troop Rotations. On December 3, 2007, DOD
announced its latest scheduled troop deployments for unit rotations to Iraq in support of
Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). These planned 2009 Army National Guard unit
deployments to Iraq supplement earlier announcements involving 2008 Army or Marine
Corps units. These rotations are summarized in Table 1 below.
Table 1. Operation Iraqi Freedom:
2008 and 2009 Rotational Units
Military Unit
Home Military Base
Rotation to Iraq
Army
3rd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division
Fort Carson, CO
Early 2008
10th Mountain Division,
Fort Drum, NY
Spring 2008
Headquarters
Marine Corps
1st Marine Expeditionary Force
Camp Pendleton, CA
Early 2008
Headquarters
Regimental Combat Team 1
Camp Pendleton, CA
Early 2008
Regimental Combat Team 5
Camp Pendleton, CA
Early 2008
CRS-6
Military Unit
Home Military Base
Rotation to Iraq
Army National Guard
4th Brigade, 4th Infantry Division
Fort Hood, TX
Summer 2008
30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team,
Clinton, NC
Summer 2008
North Carolina National Guard
56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team,
Philadelphia, PA
Summer 2008
28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania
National Guard
56th Brigade Combat Team, 36th
Fort Worth, TX
Summer 2008
Infantry Division, Texas National
Guard
29th Brigade Combat Team, Hawaii
Kalaeloa, HI
Summer 2008
National Guard
81st Brigade Combat Team,
Seattle, WA
Summer 2008
Washington National Guard
45th Fires Brigade, Oklahoma
Enid, OK
Summer 2008
National Guard
50th Brigade Combat Team, New
Lawrenceville, NJ
Summer 2008
Jersey National Guard
32nd Brigade Combat Team,
Madison, WI
Summer 2009
Wisconsin National Guard
41st Brigade Combat Team, Oregon
Tigard, OR
Summer 2009
National Guard
155th Brigade Combat Team,
Lucedale, MS
Summer 2009
Mississippi National Guard
Source: DOD News Releases July, October, and December 2007.
These rotations and extensions of active and reserve component Army tours to 15
months would maintain U.S. military capacity at 20 brigade or regimental combat teams
on the ground in Iraq. Marine Corps rotations last seven months. On August 1, 2008,
Army active duty and reserve component rotations are to be reduced to 12 months. Future
policy and logistics announcements may change the number of scheduled units assigned
to Iraq.