US Forces to be cut by 47,000

[ex pat 007]

Branch and component assignments a few months ago many more reserve commission assignments coming down than last year's.

[faughanballagh]

Good decision here. The problem will be getting it through Congress without them preserving certain programs to protect jobs in their districts.

[RoyalGreenJacket]

Robert Gates, the US Defence Secretary, on Thursday announced plans to save $78 billion from the Pentagon's budget over the next five years.

The savings would be made by cutting the military ground force by up to 47,000 starting in 2015, increasing healthcare premiums for troops and other measures. 2015 is the year when the Afghan government has said it will be able to handle the bulk of security responsibilities on its own.

Acknowledging that the military could not be immune from sacrifices that other parts of the public sector will be expected to make, Mr Gates told Congressman how he proposed to save money in a bid to pre-empt demand for even deeper cuts from so-called "deficit hawks" in Congress.

read more here: www.nytimes.com/defencecuts

the cuts in manpower represent about 6%, similar to what we in the British Army are about to apply through natural wastage and limited redundancy following our Security and Defence Strategic Review.