Washington (CNN) The Army will cut 40,000 troops from its ranks by 2017 as part of a new round of reductions brought on by constraints in the federal budget, the Army's director of force management said Thursday.
"Unfortunately under sequestration under sequestration and automatic budget cuts, today's announcement may not be the last," Brigadier General Randy George told reporters about the current fiscal environment that will reduce the Army's ranks from its current state of 490,000 soldiers to 450,000.
If automatic budget cuts known as sequestration take place later this year, the Army says it would have to likely reduce its ranks by an additional 30,000 soldiers beyond the numbers announced Thursday, potentially crippling its ability to fight.