The next stage concentrates on training Soldiers on individual skills needed in combat, followed by unit training. This culminates in the mission readiness exercise. This is a rehearsal of the mission that the unit will perform in combat. Upon completion, the unit prepares to go back to combat operations.
Units must have a year at home station to accomplish all this, Lt. Gen. Lovelace said.
Extra Pay
Soldiers will receive extra compensation for the time over one year they spend deployed in Iraq.
"When you go over the 12-month time period, the compensation shifts," said Mr. Roy Wallace, the director of plans and resources in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel. "Another $200 is added to hardship duty pay and another $800 is added to assignment incentive pay, for a total of $1,000."
All money earned in the combat zone is tax free for enlisted, as is part of officers' pay.
