WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush has authorized the U.S. Marine Corps to recall 2,500 troops to active duty because there are not enough volunteers returning for duty in Afghanistan and Iraq, Marine commanders announced Tuesday.
The recall was authorized last month, and will begin in spring 2007 to fill positions for upcoming rotations, Marine officials said. The Marine Corps is currently picking volunteers from the Marine Individual Ready Reserve, the officials said.
Marine Col. Guy A. Stratton, head of the manpower mobilization section, told The Associated Press that there is a shortfall of about 1,200 Marines needed to fill positions in upcoming unit deployments.
"Since this is going to be a long war, we thought it was judicious and prudent at this time to be able to use a relatively small portion of those Marines to help us augment our units," Stratton said, according to the AP.
Tours for recalled Marines could last 12 to 18 months, according to Marine officials.
Marines are trying to fill combat, communications, intelligence, engineering and military police positions, according to the Marine Corps.
Though the initial recall is for 2,500 troops, there is no cap on how many could be called up in the future.
Marines in the Individual Ready Reserve already have fulfilled their four-year, active duty requirement, but are on call for another four years.
Marines in their second or third years of on-call service will be tapped, because those in their first years just finished active duty and those in their fourth years have almost completed their military obligations.
The total of Marines in the Individual Ready Reserve is about 59,000, according to Marine officials.
Recalled Marines will have five months before reporting for duty, and will receive refresher courses and training before being deployed.
This is not the first time the corps has called on the Individual Ready Reserve since fighting started in Iraq in 2003. The Marines recalled more than 2,600 troops in the early days of the Iraq war.
The Army has recalled about 10,000 soldiers since September 11, 2001, the majority of those coming in 2004 to help bolster needed positions for troops in Iraq.