Lieutenant General Franklin Hagenbeck, deputy chief of staff for personnel, said the army has studied six and nine month tours and found that returning soldiers and their families would prefer them to the punishing 12 month tours they now face.

"Soldiers will tell you they can take a deep breath for six months and they can maintain that level of focus and energy level for six months. In a 12 month tour they can do it, but it takes a greater toll," Hagenbeck told reporters.

Shorter tours of duty in combat zones would be more appealing to worried parents of prospective recruits, as well as to soldier's spouses, he said. About 53 percent of the army's active duty force is married, he noted.

The 12-month tours will continue as long as the situation in Iraq or Afghanistan requires the current level of forces, now at about 145,000, the general said.

"But what I would tell you is that we think multiple, shorter tours is the ideal way to go ultimately," he said.

"If General Casey and General Abizaid make decisions that would cause the numbers in Iraq and Afghanistan to shrink, we have run some models that would allow us to consider short tours," he said.

General George Casey, the commander of US forces in Iraq, said last month he should be able to make fairly significant reductions in US force levels by March.

Abizaid, head of the US Central Command, also has expressed cautious optimism about conditions in Iraq since the January 30 elections, and his commanders have said planning for possible reductions should begin in earnest this summer.

A turn for the better in Iraq could not come too soon for the army, which is having trouble recruiting prospective soldiers in large part because of fears parents and other "influencers" have about the dangers in Iraq.

The army has fallen short of its monthly recruiting goals for the past two months, and is behind its goal for the year to date despite increasing bonuses and other incentives and putting more recruiters on the street.

The same number of youths are coming into recruiting stations, or seeking information via the Internet, he said.

"But we've got many more influencers, particularly Moms and Dads but also teachers and coaches, that are saying, 'Army is not a bad choice, but why don't you wait a couple of months to see how this business in Iraq shakes out.'"

Nevertheless, Hagenbeck said he was confident the army would meet its goal for the year of 80,000 new recruits, and he emphasized that re-enlisment rates remain strong, currently exceeding the army's goals.

Recruiters think that events since the Iraqi elections January 30 is having a positive impact, he said.

"If conditions were to remain the same or continue on this trendline we think it is going to be very positive toward the influencers," he said.

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