THE PENTAGON — Col. Jerry Martin, an infantry officer who has never deployed overseas, has finally decided to rotate out of the Pentagon after 15 years there, according to sources. Friends say Martin attributes his decision to the current Presidential administration’s steadfast refusal to deploy combat troops back to Iraq, and the draw-down of forces in Afghanistan.

Martin, who was assigned to the Pentagon as a junior staff officer in 2001, has quietly moved up the administrative ranks within the Army headquarters without succeeding in such a way that would result in him being reassigned to a line unit.

After leaving the headquarters to attend both the Infantry Captain’s Career Course (ICCC) and the Command & General Staff College (CGSC), he always managed to be reassigned back “through no influence of my own whatsoever.”