To reduce strain on its soldiers, the Army is pursuing several new paths, including a restructuring that will increase the number of combat brigades available to rotate to Iraq and Afghanistan.

¢ The number of active-duty combat brigades would grow over the next few years from 33 to 42, with the stated goal of allowing soldiers to spend two years at their home station for every year they are deployed to a war front. They currently are at a faster pace of about 1 1/2 years at home for every year fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan.

¢ In the short term, the Army is adding more troops to its active-duty ranks. Eventually it wants to make some internal adjustments, including converting more military jobs to civilians, that would result in a larger combat force while keeping the overall Army at about 482,000.

¢ The Army is implementing what it calls “rebalancing,” or the conversion of units like artillery and air defense that are in less demand today to the kinds of units that are in greater demand, like Green Berets and military police.

¢ The most immediate form of relief for the Army would be a substantial reduction in troop levels in Iraq. If the numbers could be cut from the current 136,000 to 100,000 or lower by the end of the year, as many expect, that would provide significant relief.