"We're very busy," said Utah National Guard spokesman Maj. Hank McIntire. "We have to make sure we provide the Army and the Air Force with whatever requirements they give to us."

Defense Department surveys have shown that most Guard and Reserve members feel rigorous deployment schedules are a reason to leave the military. And defense officials have admitted having trouble recruiting and retaining personnel in the past year.

The Army, for instance, fell about 25 percent short of its target of signing up 6,700 recruits in May, officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The gap would have been even wider but for the fact that the target was lowered by 1,350. Other services have experienced similar shortfalls and, in most places, Guard and Reserve units have been particularly hard-hit.

But Utah's Guard and Reserve units have had considerably little trouble keeping uniforms filled. According to Pentagon figures, Utahns are nearly twice as likely to volunteer for Guard and Reserve service. As a result, Utah-based units aren't experiencing the same problems with operational readiness as counterparts in many other states.

Some Beehive State soldiers think they are being punished with more deployments simply for being patriotic. But McIntire said the Defense Department's selection of Utah troops is, in part, complimentary.

"I think it speaks to the versatility of our force," he said. "We have artillery, special forces, intelligence and engineers. Those happen to be requirements for this specific conflict.

"Because our versatility matches those requirements, we're called up more than some other states."

Pentagon officials say they try to spread the burden of deployment among states. They also insist the most recent reduction in reserve forces is "only temporary."

"They'll get replaced," said Lt. Col. Carl Ey, a spokesman for the Army, whose soldiers make up the majority of those called off active duty in the past seven days.

Ey said about 14,800 Army National Guard members and reservists came upon the maximum 564-day deployment and were sent home. He said the drawback was not indicative of a decision to pull Guard and Reserve members out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The decrease comes following a month in which 31 part-time American service members died in Iraq. The previous worst months for Guard and Reserve deaths in Iraq were January, when 30 died, and last November, with 28.

Utah lost no soldiers - active or reserve - during May. However, a Utah National Guard member who was in Iraq working as a private security contractor was killed in a suicide car bombing May 7.

mlaplante@sltrib.com

Utah soldiers aren't catching a break

* Defense Department figures released Wednesday showed that about 15,300 fewer National Guard and military Reserve members were mobilized this week than last - a 9 percent decrease.

l The more than 2,300 Utah reservists currently on active duty do not appear to have been affected by the reduction.

l Since March 9, the number of mobilized Reserve and Guard troops has decreased by 17 percent.

l Utah's contingent of active-duty citizen soldiers increased by 17 percent.