The United States would expand the size of its Army by adding 22,000 new troops, as the military is strained by deployment to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, said the government on Monday.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters that President Barack Obama has accepted the recommendation by Secretary of the Army Pete Geren and Chief of Staff of the Army General George Casey to temporarily increase the active duty end strength of the Army by up to 22,000, making the total reach 569,000 soldiers.

US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (C) pose with Lt.Gen. Stan McChrystal (L), commander of US forces in Afghanistan and NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer (R), during a North Atlantic Council with Non-NATO ISAF Contributors on the last day of a NATO defence ministers' meeting at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels June 12, 2009. [Xinhua]

He told reporters at a news briefing that the increase was aimed at easing strains from operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The US Army's active duty force has been reinforced by 65,000 in recent years, but military leaders said that it is still not enough to compensate for soldiers who have left due to various reasons.

Gen. Pete Chiarelli, the Army's vice chief of staff, told a press conference last week that there have been roughly 30,000 soldiers who could not take active duty because they were injured, pregnant, suffering from post-traumatic stress or health problems, or have been assigned to other jobs.

He noted that the Army needs a temporary increase in order to fill vacancies in units heading to the battle front in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"It is a stretched and sometimes tired force that is meeting all the requirements, but at the same time it is difficult to get our units up to the operating strength they need before deployment," Chiarelli said.

According to the Army, 13 percent of the personnel in a typical unit heading to war are not available, compared to 11 percent previously.

(Xinhua News Agency July 21, 2009)