General: Army Needs To Grow General: Army Needs To Grow

WaPo article: General Says Army Will Need To Grow points out that the problem with surging the military right now is directly attributable to the massive Clinton "Peace Dividend":

In particularly blunt testimony, Schoomaker said the Army began the Iraq war "flat-footed" with a $56 billion equipment shortage and 500,000 fewer soldiers than during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Echoing the warnings from the post-Vietnam War era, when Gen. Edward C. Meyer, then the Army chief of staff, decried the "hollow Army," Schoomaker said it is critical to make changes now to shore up the force for what he called a long and dangerous war.

In addition,

The Army's manpower dilemma stems in part from current Pentagon policies: Although 55 percent of soldiers belong to the National Guard and the reserve, Defense Department guidelines require that reservists be mobilized involuntarily only once, and for no more than 24 months.

The result is that the reserve units that could deploy, have deployed, and when redeployed can only deploy with volunteers and new recruits. The result of that is that the reserve units now deploying are being filled out with reservists from other units around the country - which is horrible for unit cohesion.