Washington- The Army is reducing the typical soldier's deployment time in Afghanistan.

Deployments will be reduced from one year to nine months, a move designed to help soldiers decrease stress and to cut down on family problems at home. The new policy will go into effect by April 2012.

Any Army soldier who is currently deployed, or will deploy before the New Year, will still have to serve a 12-month deployment. Some of the higher-demand or more specialized units, including combat support units, will likely remain on one-year deployments.

The deployment policy will not apply to soldiers serving overseas in places like South Korea or Germany. It does not apply to Marines, Sailors or Airmen.