While admitting initial reservations, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told a National Guard conference Thursday he sees benefits of a new plan that allows reserve-component servicemembers to conduct pre-deployment training before the clock starts ticking on their 12-month mobilization cycles.

Secretary of the Army John McHugh visited Fort Carson Nov. 18 as the second of three stops on his first official tour of Army installations. "The intent of this trip is to provide me with the opportunity to look at the Army's process of resetting, training, equipping and preparing to deploy the fighting force of our United States Army through processes called ARFORGEN (Army Force Generation)," said McHugh.