Nearly 1 million US troops have been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan since 9/11, the Pentagon said.
The Pentagon confirmed to United Press International on Wednesday that a cumulative total of 955,000 troops from all military services had been deployed for Operation Iraqi or Enduring Freedom by the end of September. More than 300,000 of those troops were deployed more than once.
One government source said the total number of troops deployed has likely hit 1 million since then.
Pentagon data shows 708,000 of the troops were from the active duty force, roughly half the total of the 1.4 million active duty US troops. Slightly more than 245,000 troops were from reserve and National Guard units.
Military experts said the American military is being stretched to its limits - or beyond.
"It shows that we are short of troops. I don't think there is any question about that," retired Marine Corps three-star Gen. Bernard E. Trainor said. "Nobody, or almost nobody, anticipated specifically how this thing was going to turn out."