Soldiiers...

[fajrdrako]

I was reading an article about American deserters which brashley46 linked to today, and I paused at this sentence: "The Pentagon says that a total of 40,000 troops have deserted their posts (not simply those serving in Iraq) since the year 2000."

I've seen this usage before, but only very recently - has 'troop' come to mean the same as 'soldier'? Surely they don't mean that 40,000 squads have deserted? It must be individuals, right? (I know the US army is big, but it can't be that big...)