02/24/2014
Also under Hagel's proposal, "the entire fleet of Air Force A-10 attack aircraft would be eliminated."
Also under Hagel's proposal, "the entire fleet of Air Force A-10 attack aircraft would be eliminated."
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel plans to shrink the U.S. Army to its smallest force since before the World War II buildup. Officials describe his spending proposal as the first Pentagon budget to aggressively push the military off the war footing adopted after the terrorist attacks of 2001.
The proposal, described by several Pentagon officials on the condition of anonymity in advance of its release today, takes into account the fiscal reality of government austerity and the political reality of a president who pledged to end two costly land wars. The result, the officials say, will be a military capable of defeating any adversary but too small to carry out protracted foreign occupations.
The officials acknowledge that budget cuts will impose greater risk on the armed forces if they are again ordered to carry out two large-scale military actions at the same time: Success would take longer, they say, and there would be a larger number of casualties.
“You have to always keep your institution prepared, but you can't carry a large land-war Defense Department when there is no large land war,” a senior Pentagon official said.
Outlines of some of the budget initiatives, which are subject to congressional approval, have surfaced, an indication that the budget is certain to come under political attack.
The new American way of war will be underscored in Hagel's budget plan, which would protect money for special operations forces and cyberwarfare.
Overall, the officials said, Hagel's plan is designed to allow the U.S. military to fulfill President Barack Obama's national security directives: to defend U.S. territory and interests overseas and to deter aggression — and to win decisively if again ordered to war.
“We're still going to have a very significant-sized Army,” the senior official said. “But it's going to be agile. It will be capable. It will be modern. It will be trained.”
Hagel's plan would significantly reshape America's land forces — active-duty soldiers and the National Guard and Reserve.
The Army, which took on the brunt of the fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, already was scheduled to drop to 490,000 troops from a post-9/11 peak of 570,000. Under Hagel's proposal, the Army would drop over the coming years to between 440,000 and 450,000.
That would be the smallest U.S. Army since 1940.
Hagel will take some first steps to deal with the issue of military pay, as the plan would impose a one-year salary freeze for general and flag officers; basic pay for military personnel would rise by 1 percent. After the 2015 fiscal year, raises in pay would be similarly restrained, Pentagon officials say.
Also under Hagel's proposal, the entire fleet of Air Force A-10 attack aircraft would be eliminated.
The proposal, described by several Pentagon officials on the condition of anonymity in advance of its release today, takes into account the fiscal reality of government austerity and the political reality of a president who pledged to end two costly land wars. The result, the officials say, will be a military capable of defeating any adversary but too small to carry out protracted foreign occupations.
The officials acknowledge that budget cuts will impose greater risk on the armed forces if they are again ordered to carry out two large-scale military actions at the same time: Success would take longer, they say, and there would be a larger number of casualties.
“You have to always keep your institution prepared, but you can't carry a large land-war Defense Department when there is no large land war,” a senior Pentagon official said.
Outlines of some of the budget initiatives, which are subject to congressional approval, have surfaced, an indication that the budget is certain to come under political attack.
The new American way of war will be underscored in Hagel's budget plan, which would protect money for special operations forces and cyberwarfare.
Overall, the officials said, Hagel's plan is designed to allow the U.S. military to fulfill President Barack Obama's national security directives: to defend U.S. territory and interests overseas and to deter aggression — and to win decisively if again ordered to war.
“We're still going to have a very significant-sized Army,” the senior official said. “But it's going to be agile. It will be capable. It will be modern. It will be trained.”
Hagel's plan would significantly reshape America's land forces — active-duty soldiers and the National Guard and Reserve.
The Army, which took on the brunt of the fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, already was scheduled to drop to 490,000 troops from a post-9/11 peak of 570,000. Under Hagel's proposal, the Army would drop over the coming years to between 440,000 and 450,000.
That would be the smallest U.S. Army since 1940.
Hagel will take some first steps to deal with the issue of military pay, as the plan would impose a one-year salary freeze for general and flag officers; basic pay for military personnel would rise by 1 percent. After the 2015 fiscal year, raises in pay would be similarly restrained, Pentagon officials say.
Also under Hagel's proposal, the entire fleet of Air Force A-10 attack aircraft would be eliminated.
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