DERRY, N.H. -- During his recent trip to New Hampshire, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry said he would deploy troops around the world differently than President George W. Bush.

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Kerry Outlines Own Plan

The 94th Military Police Company out of Londonderry, N.H., had its tour of duty in Iraq extended twice, spending 596 days overseas before finally coming home in August. In an interview with News9's Scott Spradling Thursday, Kerry said he finds such delays unacceptable.

"These families are suffering hardships," he said. "It's not fair to extend their service for what is essentially a back-door draft."

Kerry promised a different approach. He said he wants to deploy two divisions of Army fighters to relieve the strain on National Guard and Reserve troops. He also plans to double the number of Special Forces units, which he believe will be more effective.

"And I'm never going to send Americans to win the war without first having a plan to win the peace," Kerry said, repeating a line from his stump speech.

Kerry also blasted the president's recently announced redeployment plan, which would not affect U.S. forces in Iraq, but would replace -- and in some cases remove -- forces from areas of conflict around the world.

"I think that's a dangerous policy," Kerry said. "Like withdrawing troops from North Korea, which is an obvious nuclear threat. It's one of the most dangerous countries in the world today."

Kerry said he believes he has tapped into the public's frustration with Bush's international policy, but he said he knows he must work hard to turn frustration into votes. Some voters said they would choose "anyone but Bush," but Kerry said he believes the sentiment is changing from anti-Bush to pro-Kerry.

"That may have been true before the convention, but afterwards, I felt a turnaround," Kerry said. "People started to listen."

Kerry said he'll tap his own war experience and work to bring back the allies he believes were pushed away by Bush.

"I will fight with the lessons I learned in war," Kerry said. "I defended this country when I was young. I will defend it as president."

Kerry also said that he will continue campaigning during the Republican National Convention. Traditionally, rivals will take the week off, but Kerry said he'll be on the trail.