General Casey: Army Can Accept More Demands

Though President Obama has yet to make a decision about whether to send additional U.S. forces to Afghanistan, the Army is "better positioned to accept some additional demands than we were two years ago," according to Gen. George Casey, the Army chief of staff.

Some 65,000 soldiers have been added to the Army rolls since Casey took over, he said, which has helped to put the Army back into balance. Casey added that the Army is not "out of the woods" yet. He said that in addition to more soldiers, the current crop of troops is better able to meet the demands of repeated deployments as a result of new Army programs.

The Army is also creating a "master resiliency trainer" course, with the goal of putting one such trainer into every battalion by next year. It is a response to the Army's growing suicide rate, which has doubled at the same time the suicide rate in the United States has remained relatively stable.

• See photos of the Afghan election.