Kentucky ? The nation’s highest-ranking military officer Monday told soldiers, including many bound for Afghanistan, that he expects casualties to rise next year as additional U.S. troops pour into the war.

Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, answered soldiers’ questions for about an hour at Fort Campbell, a sprawling Army post on the Kentucky-Tennessee line. Many at the fort already had orders for Afghanistan before President Barack Obama unveiled his plan last week to add about 30,000 new troops to about 70,000 already there.

“I am sure we will sustain an increase in the level of casualties and I don’t want to be in any way unclear about that,” he told about 700 troops. “This is what happened in Iraq during the surge and as tragic as it is, to turn this thing around, it will be a part of this surge as well.”

“I expect a tough fight in 2010,” Mullen said.