Staying in Iraq/Getting Out of the Military
Where are the extra troops coming from? One way the numbers are going up is the Pentagon is changing the rules, sadly. There is a limit to how much combat one's psyche can withstand. Now they're removing one of the few safeguards that had been in place.

Until now, the Pentagon's policy on the Guard or Reserve was that members' cumulative time on active duty for the Iraq or Afghan wars could not exceed 24 months. That cumulative limit is now lifted; the remaining limit is on the length of any single mobilization, which may not exceed 24 consecutive months, Pace said.

In other words, a citizen-soldier could be mobilized for a 24-month stretch in Iraq or Afghanistan, then demobilized and allowed to return to civilian life, only to be mobilized a second time for as much as an additional 24 months.
...
David Chu, the Pentagon's chief of personnel, said in an interview that he thinks Guard and Reserve members will be cheered by the decision to limit future mobilizations to 12 months. The fact that some with previous Iraq experience will end up spending more than 24 months on active duty is "no big deal,"

Meanwhile, if military personnel really want out, we know they can achieve that goal by being gay. We can add to that another delightful method.

An Air Force staff sergeant who posed nude for Playboy magazine has been relieved of her duties while the military investigates, officials said Thursday.