It will be...
Posted on 02/23/2014 11:24:29 PM PST by Vince Ferrer
WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel plans to shrink the U.S. Army to its smallest force since before World War II, Pentagon officials told the New York Times.
The plans, to be laid out in Hagel's first defense budget Monday, call for the entire fleet of Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft to be eliminated, the newspaper said, citing Pentagon officials ahead of Hagel's release of the spending plan.
The twin-engine jet is the only Air Force aircraft designed solely for close air support of ground forces. It was developed in the 1970s to attack Soviet tanks in case of a European invasion -- capabilities the Pentagon deems less relevant today, the Times said.
The proposed budget includes limits on military pay raises, higher fees for military healthcare benefits and less generous military housing allowances, the Wall Street Journal said.
Pentagon officials describe the cuts as a modest and realistic plan to save billions of dollars needed to protect other critical portions of U.S. defense spending, the Journal said.
The proposed changes, which will be subject to congressional approval, are intended to comply with the Bipartisan Budget Act reached by President Barack Obama and Congress, the Times said. That deal, which passed the House Dec. 12 and the Senate Dec. 18, imposes a military spending cap of about $496 billion for the 2015 fiscal year.
The changes, endorsed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are also intended to conform to Obama's pledge to end two costly and exhausting land wars.
A result will be a military capable of defeating any adversary, but too small for prolonged foreign occupations, Pentagon officials told the Times.
"We're still going to have a very significant-sized Army," an official said. "But it's going to be agile. It will be capable. It will be modern. It will be trained."
The Army, which did the most U.S. fighting and had the most casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq, is proposed in Hagel's budget to drop to 440,000 to 450,000 troops, the smallest force since 1940, the Times said.
It was already scheduled to drop to 490,000 troops from a post-Sept. 11, 2001, peak of 570,000.
Money saved by cutting the number of personnel would assure U.S. fighting soldiers would be well trained and supplied with the best weaponry, the officials told the newspaper.
The cuts in housing allowances and other benefits, such as less support for grocery stores that offer discounts to military families, reflect economic realities, the Defense Department said.
"Personnel costs reflect some 50 percent of the Pentagon budget and cannot be exempted in the context of the significant cuts the department is facing," department spokesman Adm. John Kirby told the Journal.
"Secretary Hagel has been clear that, while we do not want to, we ultimately must slow the growth of military pay and compensation," Kirby said.
Hagel's plan calls for a one-year pay freeze for the Defense Department's top military leaders -- a gesture the Journal said was meant to show that even the best-compensated leaders would make sacrifices.
Nah. We’ll just go back to the Clinton years when a soldier had the TANK sign pinned on.
No, it is Congress that divided spending into discretionary and non-discretionary. I don't see them having the courage to change it.
I don't either.
But not changing it is a dereliction of duty.
Toto, we’re not in Sparta any more...
By all means, go to a defense posture from 70 years
ago. Madness.
It will be...
islamism
Great. An America made up of entitlement-sucking weaklings and a hollow Army to defend it.
Why don’t we just offer ourselves up now and get it over with.
God I hate liberals - just hate them with a passion for what they’ve done to this country.
How bad can this get? On Pearl Harbor Day there were more New York City cops than United States Marines and we know how that turned out.
We had plenty of tanks during the Clinton years.
The A10 is my favorite flying machine. RIP, Warthog.
All in order to transfer money to the Free S*** Army (Obama’s beloved Gimmie Brigades).
Nor would I, but we need a realistic DOD budget with the PORK palm greasing gone and raises for our Troops especially the lower enlisted. And to take care of of Veterans. You can see the palm greasing in the first article. And the plans for our Active and Retired in the rest. Along with other social programs Fraud and Abuse. There are so many articles on FR on Medicare cuts that some conservative local papers and msm did report. $7 Trillion over 20 yrs. And if you are the unlucky souls like we are Medicare/Tricare Life, you have the worst rationed health ins there is. And not way out.
Military Waste and Fraud Continue In the Middle of the Government Shutdown Washington’s Blog
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/10/wasted-military.html
http://www.reuters.com/investigates/pentagon/#article/part1
Military Pay Chart: http://www.militaryfactory.com/military_pay_scale.asp
AMERICAN WAR DEATHS
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0004615.html
Mugging the Military
http://www.ijreview.com/2012/06/9466-mugging-soldiers/
Mugging our Troops
http://www.reuters.com/investigates/pentagon/#article/part1
0bama to Force Military Families Away From Tricare ...By Tripling Their Fees.
Medicare And Medicaid Fraud Is Costing Taxpayers Billions
http://www.forbes.com/sites/merrillmatthews/2012/05/31/medicare-and-medicaid-fraud-is-costing-taxpayers-billions/
How big is Medicare fraud?
http://www.bankrate.com/financing/retirement/how-big-is-medicare-fraud/
Anchor Baby Outrage: Americans Pay BILLIONS for Illegal Alien Births (Video) http://toprightnews.com/?p=1333
Not only do we pay for them to be born here, then there is the food stamps, welfare, Medicaid, cell phones, school and the Judicial system and I am sure many more we could add that ILLEGAL INVADERS are not entitled to.
Sen Dems Why Didn’t some one tell us Obamacare would CUT MEDICARE!
http://floppingaces.net/most_wanted/senate-democrats-why-didnt-someone-tell-us-obamacare-would-cut-medicare/comment-page-1/
Wait until they have to start Drafting, some 18 year old male will SUE the pants off over the Equal Rights issue. Women stuck their noses under the camel’s tent by insisting on going into combat, they will also have to be forced to register for the Draft.
If memory serves unless we are at war like WW1,, 2 or Nam around 1-2% OF AMERICANS EVER ENLIST.
Any one both male or female who wants to run for any public office should do a 4 year tour of duty starting as a E1 despite education level, and no outside help from rich parents. Let them find out how BAD it is for the lower ranks.
Our inland Navy base Millington TN was a training base, a few years ago they turned it into BUPERS paper pushers. Before we had 1 top Brass, now we have 12. Commissary cost as much as Kroger’s minus the 4.75 extra sales tax, Exchange only carries mostly top designer stuff like a Vera Wang wallet is $200, only the Brass can afford that crap.
Hubby is Ret SCPO who taught A/B schools there, when he was not at sea or posted in Japan. Couple of those sea duties was on the Midway part of the fleet that helped pull the Ambassador out of Nam, and off the Coast of Cuba during the Missile Crisis.
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