(Corrects headline and paragraphs 1 and 8 to show troops will get time off for more frequent, not extended, deployments. New paragraph 9 clarifies types of deployment compensation.)

By Kristin Roberts

WASHINGTON, April 18 (Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Wednesday it would give U.S. troops time off rather than cash bonuses when deployed more frequently than expected, but insisted the decision was not linked to budget woes.

"The budgets and constraints on the budgets were not binding or determinative in this," said Michael Dominguez, the Defense Department's principal deputy under secretary for personnel. "We weren't concerned about the budget."

He said time off was more consistent with a culture of service.

"We weren't trying to find some metaphysical balance between the service you are rendering and buckets full of gold," he said when pressed by reporters on why additional pay was not offered.

"What we were concerned about is a recognition device for telling people, look we know we're asking you to do something extraordinary but something that was consistent with the ethos of service and something that was connected in a reasonable, logical way with, look if we use you hard we're going to give you some time off."

Long and repeated deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan have placed both a monetary and manpower strain on the U.S. military, particularly the Army and Marine Corps.

The Bush administration has asked Congress for $100 billion in additional war funds for immediate use, but that measure has been tied up in a debate over withdrawal deadline for Iraq. Meanwhile, the Pentagon has extended the tours of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan to 15 months from a year.

Under the new Pentagon policy, active-duty troops will get one day off for every month troops are deployed early. The number of days off increases as other thresholds are met.

Troops already receive $1,000 in extra pay for each month of extended deployment beyond one year. That compensation program continues.

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