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| Pentagon Proposes to Shrink U.S. Army to pre-WWII Level |
| 2014-02-25 |
| [An Nahar] The Pentagon plans to scale back the U.S. Army by more than an eighth to its lowest level since before World War II, as it hopes for an end to 13 years of war in Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel recommended shrinking U.S. forces from 520,000 active duty troops to between 440,000 and 450,000. In a speech outlining the proposed defense budget Monday, he said that after Iraq and Afghanistan, military leaders no longer plan to "conduct long and large stability operations." If approved by Congress, the move would reduce the army to its lowest levels since 1940, before the American military dramatically expanded after entering World War II. And we saw how well that worked. The proposed 13 percent reduction in the army would be carried out by 2017, a senior defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Agence La Belle France Presse. The move comes amid growing fiscal pressures and after years of protracted counter-insurgency campaigns, which saw the Army reach a peak of more than 566,000 troops in 2010. U.S. troops have already withdrawn from Iraq and President Barack Obama If you like your coverage you can keep it... has promised to end America's combat role in Afghanistan by the end of this year. The Pentagon had previously planned to downsize the ground force to about 490,000. But Hagel warned that to adapt to future threats "the Army must accelerate the pace and increase the scale of its post-war drawdown." He said the changes "would result in a smaller army, but would help ensure the army remains well-trained and clearly superior in arms and equipment." Hagel also said the army national guard and reserves would be cut by five percent. The smaller force would entail some "added risk" but it would still be able to defeat an adversary in one region while also "supporting" air and naval operations in another, he said. His comments confirmed the Pentagon has abandoned the idea of ensuring the army could fight two major wars at the same time. The proposed budget also calls for scrapping the Air Force's entire fleet of A-10 "Warthog" aircraft and retiring the storied U-2 spy plane. Instead, commanders have opted to invest more in the new F-35 fighter and the unmanned Global Hawk surveillance drone. Hagel also called for slowing growth in pay and benefits, which make up nearly half the Pentagon's budget. Military spending doubled after the attacks of September 11, 2001 but has started to decline as politicians push to slash the government's budget and debt. Under a bipartisan accord adopted in December, the Defense Department will have a $496 billion budget for fiscal year 2015. But the Pentagon has a "wish list" of $26 billion that would fund new weapons and bolster training programs. Hagel warned that if automatic budget cuts resume in two years, the effects would be devastating and force more drastic reductions in manpower and equipment. The full U.S. federal budget will be presented officially on March 4. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #20 "to Shrink U.S. Army to pre-WWII Level" Thereby guaranteeing WW III. >:-( |
| Posted by: Barbara 2014-02-25 21:19 |
| #19 Cuts in the land fighting force and cuts in the A-10 Wharthog, anti-armor ground attack CAS system in favor of the few F-35's. Can anyone tell me that an honest Threat assessment on the major opponents facing the US does not spell out China, in some form somewhere on the globe? And the warfighting systems that will be required if that happens are the ones you cut? Really? Of all the parts of the US military, ground fighters aren't required for counter-terrorism, counter-insurgency, sovereignty missions? This is utterly nuts! |
| Posted by: NoMoreBS 2014-02-25 19:19 |
| #18 His comments confirmed the Pentagon has abandoned the idea of ensuring the army could fight two major wars at the same time. I guess we can fight Canada but not Mexico. And as for China and Russia? |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2014-02-25 18:52 |
| #17 #10 Does anyone know what the proposed manning of DHS will be as the army is cut? Posted by: Yosemite Sam the politically loyal from the RIF will be incorporated into DHS. Particularly the snipers |
| Posted by: Frank G 2014-02-25 18:22 |
| #16 Sadly it's always the Army that takes the cuts. It takes 6 years to build a carrier, evidently it takes 20 years to build a strike fighter. Infantry are easier to stand up. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2014-02-25 16:54 |
| #15 By the time they're 08s the vast majority are political appointees, 'company men' or careerists. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2014-02-25 15:56 |
| #14 Says a lot about current brass if nobody resigns over this. I was surprised nobody resigned over Benghazi. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2014-02-25 15:32 |
| #13 Finally found a deadline they can keep. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2014-02-25 14:40 |
| #12 He is right on track with his plan. He has corrupted every government agency. America now fears and distrusts all government agencies because he uses them for political tools against his enemies. We loath Congress, fear the IRS, Have no respect for the FBI and DOJ. DHS is turning unto his personal Army. FEMA is a mess. And now the only honorable and respected arm of our government he is going to hollow out. By 2016 America will be broke, the agencies will be run by political hacks, and Americans will despise every aspect of the government. His changing of America will be complete... |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2014-02-25 11:15 |
| #11 Well all those food stamps and ObamaPhones aren't going to pay for themselves you know! Not in terms of money, anyway. This is what liberals do. They starve the army to pay for services that idiots will sell their vote for. When the idiots figure it out temporarily, the liberals disappear for a few years while the conservatives put things back on their feet. Of course, that money has to be taken away from the boodle the idiots have been receiving. Then the liberals knowingly take advantage of the idiots ability to properly assign blame and start pointing out how hard things have been recently compared to how it was in the good old days when liberals were in charge. So now the liberals are ushered back in, they have a military they can use at first and suck dry later. Then the whole process repeats. Of course, it doesn't help when big-government conservatives try to expand government, either. |
| Posted by: gorb 2014-02-25 11:11 |
| #10 Does anyone know what the proposed manning of DHS will be as the army is cut? |
| Posted by: Yosemite Sam 2014-02-25 10:37 |
| #9 So O has opted for decline? Now will the congress go along, or for the first time in years, do the right thing and resist this suicide action on the installment plan? |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2014-02-25 10:02 |
| #8 1. In 1940, the Army Air Corps was part of the Army and not yet the separate Air Force. Need to roll the numbers in. 2. The Army was down to about 480k before 9/11. The Donks made big play about burn out during the war and that we didn't have enough troops - all just to make political points then. We know what we need, even they by their action admit it. 3. No major commitments are being terminated, as in leave just a MAG team at NATO HQ or Korea, and end troop deployments to 'first world' countries. It's the military mission version of accumulated debt, it grows and never balances. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2014-02-25 09:07 |
| #7 ..good takedown <HERE>.. |
| Posted by: Uncle Phester 2014-02-25 08:44 |
| #6 "Is he a mole or just uncompetent?" Yes. |
| Posted by: GORT 2014-02-25 08:25 |
| #5 Like Rosevelt's withering on the branch Armed Forces policy worked so well. Tell it to the people who died because the US Army's answer to the Tiger and Panther were undergunned, underamored Shermanns. And to the NAvy and Marine people because America was sending Brewster Buffaloes and Wildcats against Zeroes (yes I know about the Wilcat but that was after the Thatch Wave, objectively the Zero was superior and America could and should have had far better fighters). Now, America is at war, China's threat is growing and growing, Russia hates America, Iran is still unchecked and Obama is cutting the Armed Forces. Is he a mole or just uncompetent? |
| Posted by: JFM 2014-02-25 05:40 |
| #4 Given the current management's proclivities, I'm not sure it's bad news. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2014-02-25 04:22 |
| #3 Daily Caller story. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-02-25 02:03 |
| #2 Well all those food stamps and ObamaPhones aren't going to pay for themselves you know! |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2014-02-25 01:32 |
| #1 The proposed 13 percent reduction in the army would be carried out by 2017 Sounds like their in something of a hurry, but I guess we already know why. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-02-25 01:27 |