Budget reductions could render the Army at "high risk to meet even one major war," according to documents obtained by USA TODAY, a warning the Army is sounding because it sees another war as inevitable before long.
The dire assessment by top Army officials to Pentagon leaders provides a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes struggle for the future of the military in a time of declining budgets/.../
Military budget analysts say the Army is crying wolf. If it changed the way it organizes itself and how it fights, the Army can make do with far fewer soldiers, they say. They say the Army has not fully taken into account President Obama's 2012 strategic guidance calling for smaller, more agile forces.
"They can get smaller," said Todd Harrison, a budget expert at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. "They will just have to fight differently. If you can't even fight one war, what's the point of having an army?"/.../
Harrison said the Army could restructure itself by moving away from its traditional armor and infantry battalions. It could emphasize new capabilities such as missile defense and offense.
"The other services are looking at options in changing their capabilities with a different mix of forces," Harrison said. They're finding they can have fewer troops and "be just as effective."