WASHINGTON, Sept 9: The US Army has ordered thousands of National Guard and Army reserve forces in Iraq to extend their tours in the country for a year, says an order issued earlier this week.

The order was made public on Tuesday, a day after President Bush urged his nation to be patient on Iraq where US forces are facing almost daily ambushes by the Iraqi rebels.

Usually a reservist is inducted into the army for a total of one year, which also includes months of training in the United States before oversees deployment and another period of debriefing in the United States on their return.

But the new order means the reservists will have to stay in Iraq for one full year and serve in the army for up to six more months for training and debriefing.

The Bush administration is already being criticized for its over-reliance on reserve troops in the war on terror. Some critics say the new policy could have a highly negative impact on the morale of the reservists.

There are 122,000 US Army personnel in Iraq, including 3,000 National Guard soldiers and 5,000 reservists. Another 5,000 Guard soldiers and 7,000 reservists are serving in Kuwait.

Overall, there are 350,000 troops in the Army National Guard and 205,000 in the Army Reserve.

Army officials defended the new deployment order, saying the scarcity of active-duty forces and security concerns in Iraq made it necessary to keep a large number of Guard and Reserve troops in the country.

Agencies add: The Washington Post first reported the Army move on Tuesday. It means that many Army soldiers called to active duty from their jobs will serve longer than the year that they had originally planned for.

Currently, part-time Army soldiers who have been called to duty in Iraq and the nearby Gulf region have been activated for a total of a year, including training in the United States and demobilization at home.

But the new order could increase that active duty tour by setting the time in Iraq and the region for a full year.