Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Wednesday laid out options for implementing the Pentagon's share of broad spending cuts known as the sequester, including shrinking the Army from 490,000 under current targets to a force as small as 380,000—far below even its modern low point at the end of the Clinton administration/.../
"We are not talking about marginal changes; we are talking about fundamental changes in our defense posture," said Andrew Krepinevich, president of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.
The most serious cuts to the Army and other military services would come only if the sequester remains in place. But even if Congress reverses the spending cuts, the Pentagon plans to cut as many as 50,000 Army soldiers and 90 to 120 tactical aircraft, as well as older C-130 cargo planes. Officials said the Air Force reductions would fall heaviest on A-10s, planes designed as tank-killers, and older F-16 fighter jets/.../
Todd Harrison, a defense analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, said that in general supporting modernization over large standing ground forces was the right choice, given developments most likely to confront U.S. forces in coming years.
"The smart choice is to invest in capabilities for the future rather than current capacity," he said. "If you have to choose, that is the right approach."