450,000 here we come....

[Pete]

U.S. Army to cut 40,000 troops over next two years: USA Today

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...0PH2A020150707

"The U.S. Army plans to cut 40,000 troops over the next two years, affecting all its domestic and foreign posts, USA Today reported on Tuesday, saying the Army also planned to cut 17,000 civilian employees.

The cuts would reduce the active-duty Army from its current size of about 490,000 soldiers to about 450,000, its smallest number since before the United States entered World War Two.

The troop reductions were initially announced in February 2014 when then-Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel unveiled the Pentagon's budget for the 2015 fiscal year. The figures were also included in the Pentagon's four-year planning document, the Quadrennial Defense Review 2014.

Defense officials confirmed on Tuesday the Army was moving ahead with the plan to reduce uniformed and civilian personnel and was expected to announce details on Thursday about which units would be affected by the cuts.

The personnel cuts come as the Pentagon is attempting to absorb nearly $1 trillion in reductions to planned defense spending over a decade..."


Still no cuts to the welfare system.

[Javadrinker]

Originally Posted by Pete

U.S. Army to cut 40,000 troops over next two years: USA Today

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...0PH2A020150707

"The U.S. Army plans to cut 40,000 troops over the next two years, affecting all its domestic and foreign posts, USA Today reported on Tuesday, saying the Army also planned to cut 17,000 civilian employees.

The cuts would reduce the active-duty Army from its current size of about 490,000 soldiers to about 450,000, its smallest number since before the United States entered World War Two.

The troop reductions were initially announced in February 2014 when then-Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel unveiled the Pentagon's budget for the 2015 fiscal year. The figures were also included in the Pentagon's four-year planning document, the Quadrennial Defense Review 2014.

Defense officials confirmed on Tuesday the Army was moving ahead with the plan to reduce uniformed and civilian personnel and was expected to announce details on Thursday about which units would be affected by the cuts.

The personnel cuts come as the Pentagon is attempting to absorb nearly $1 trillion in reductions to planned defense spending over a decade..."


Still no cuts to the welfare system.

but why would there be cuts to the "entitlement" system when they can have troop reductions?

[Flagg]

Just wow.

A low # not seen since 1940-1941 I think?

And I'm guessing this impacts heavily down the track on SOF's ability to recruit and retain with a reduced pool of candidates in a time of still increasing operational demands.

Caught in a vice.

Meanwhile, the global population has nearly tripled since 1940-1941, making the proportional soldier/civilian boots on ground calculation even more potentially dangerous.

[Flagg]

Originally Posted by Javadrinker

but why would there be cuts to the "entitlement" system when they can have troop reductions?

This reminds me of a poll I read 1-2 years ago regarding "most respected institutions"(paraphrasing) in the US.

IIRC the US Military was highest rated(something like 82%+ roughly) with Congress sitting in the VERY low double digits(11-12% I think?).

One way to change that with little to no real work is to eliminate the competition for public respect with a pen stroke I suppose.

[GreenSalsa]

I am really trying to understand how General Dempsey can say in the June 2015 National Military Strategy that "today’s global security environment is the most unpredictable seen in 40 years.”, and announce today, less than 2 weeks later, that the Army plans to cut 40,000 Soldiers.

I thought "Humans were more important than hardware"--even the NMS says "Our military and civilian professionals are our decisive advantage. They are the foundation of our operational excellence and our ability to successfully innovate."

Good thing the Russians aren't looking to expand, and Iran has agreed to stringent Nuclear restrictions, and North Korea isn't playing with biological weapons...

What changed--what's the plan?

[NurseTim]

Originally Posted by Flagg

Just wow.

A low # not seen since 1940-1941 I think?

And I'm guessing this impacts heavily down the track on SOF's ability to recruit and retain with a reduced pool of candidates in a time of still increasing operational demands.

Caught in a vice.

Meanwhile, the global population has nearly tripled since 1940-1941, making the proportional soldier/civilian boots on ground calculation even more potentially dangerous.

History repeats itself, we are attacked, and the draft is reinstituted.

[Box]

...the wars are over, the POTUS said so - what do we need a big army for

Soldiers are expensive and have needs.
Lets just replace the troops with drones; after all, most of leadership is comprised of drones, so it makes perfect sense.

Taking care of service members is such a headache anyway - look on the bright side...
...with less troops, maybe it will be easier for senior leaders to 'lead'

Maybe not

[Pete]

And how much of that 450,000 is eaten up by commands and training positions?

I'd say we might be in worse shape than we were in 1940.

[SouthernDZ]

Originally Posted by NurseTim

History repeats itself, we are attacked, and the draft is reinstituted.

Gee, do you think our undocumented immigrants (illegal aliens) will be subject to the draft?

[JimP]

I've seen paperwork where they were contemplating 385,000.

It's not that they WANT to take it that low, there simply isn't enough funding to keep it any higher. Anyone who tells you we are stronger than at any point in history is a lying POS.

Both parties own this debacle but the current squatter in the whitehouse owns the lion's share.

He is - indeed - "fundamentally transforming America".

[bailaviborita]

On a good note- we are increasing positions for SHARP representatives...

We may not be able to conduct war, but at least we'll be able to report sexual assaults in under the mandatory 6 hour reporting requirement...