6 December 2015
...The focus on cutting modernization shows that end-strength reductions have hit their limits, said Mark Gunzinger of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments,
In recent years the Pentagon "prioritized modernization over maintaining a larger force in the near term," Gunzinger said. "So, it reduced its end strength, attempted to retire some legacy capabilities such as the A-10, and proposed initiatives to cut its overhead, including a new round of base closures and modest compensation reform."
But many of those proposals were killed in Congress, and the services have expressed concern that further end-strength cuts would create too much risk, leaving the Pentagon no alternative but to "begin modest reductions in some modernization programs," Gunzinger added...
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