Sen. Chuck Hagel teamed Tuesday with Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., on a proposal to impose restrictions on future overseas deployment of U.S. troops.

The proposed amendment to the Iraq war supplemental appropriations bill would limit deployments and require full compliance with military readiness standards in terms of training and equipment.

The restrictions would kick in 120 days after passage and be legally binding.   Requirements could be waived in case of a national emergency or if equipment is provided in the theater of operations.

“This amendment is about taking care of our troops,” Hagel said.

“No American wants to allow a single soldier or Marine to be deployed without meeting the military’s standard of readiness.  Yet, that is what we are doing.

“We are breaking our military,” Hagel said, “and this amendment will help put a stop to it.”

Included in the proposal is funding for Army National Guard equipment replacement and training needs, and a requirement that Guard and Reserve troops could be deployed in Iraq for no more than one year in a five-year-period.

The proposed $3.1 billion additional appropriation would also fund Reserve equipment needs and provide additional mine-resistant ambush protection vehicles for the Marine Corps.

Webb said those appropriations reflect “a determinination to assist our ground forces (in reversing) their worrisome decline in readiness, especially the National Guard in both its domestic and federal missions.”

Both Hagel, a Republican, and Webb, a Democrat, served in Vietnam.  

Hagel was a twice-wounded Army sergeant; Webb, a Marine who also received two Purple Hearts, later served as secretary of the Navy.

Their proposal would restrict the length of deployment to one year for Army, Army Reserve or Army National Guard troops.   The maximum deployment for the Marine Corps or Marine Reserves would be 210 days.

The amendment provides that the minimum time between deployments for the Army and the Marines must be at least equal to the length of the previous deployment.

Reach Don Walton at 473-7248 or at dwalton@journalstar.com.