The military is cutting thousands of jobs to focus on Russia and China
The US military is cutting 24,000 positions as the Pentagon continues to shift its priority to countering Chinese and Russian military power after two decades of focusing on the fight against terrorism, according to a new Army document.
The cuts are in line with the national defense strategy begun by President Donald J. Trump and largely endorsed by the Biden administration, which emphasizes growing threats to the United States from an emboldened Russia and China.
During the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, military numbers grew to nearly 600,000, but the end of those conflicts contributed to a steady decline as soldiers returned to garrison.
The jobs disappear The Associated Press previously reported this, also implicitly acknowledges the recruitment problems that have plagued the military – as well as other military services – in recent years. The Army, Navy and Air Force failed to meet recruitment targets last year. Army officials have traveled to college campuses in urban areas to try to tap underrepresented communities for recruits.
The new document says the cuts “will allow the Army to reduce the gap between the force structure, which was designed to accommodate 494,000 soldiers, and the current active duty end strength, which is set by law at 445,000.” According to the document, the goal will now be to reach an army final strength of 470,000 men.
Defense Department officials say several problems have hampered recruitment. The percentage of young Americans eligible and interested in military service has declined, they note. A low unemployment rate has also meant that young people have other options.
“The Army will reduce the redundant, largely unmanned ‘hollow’ force structure and build new formations equipped with new capabilities needed for large-scale combat operations,” the document said. “By better aligning force structure and end strength, the Army will ensure its formations are stocked at the right levels to maintain a high state of readiness.”
Defense Department officials said last year that the Army planned to cut about 3,000 positions from its Special Operations forces. That number would top 24,000, an official said Tuesday.
For more than two decades, U.S. military commanders and senior defense officials have worried about whether the focus on counterinsurgency has left the military unprepared for a land war between the major powers.
But even as the Pentagon continues its shift toward the latter, events in the Middle East, spurred by the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel and Israel’s resulting retaliatory campaign in Gaza, have underscored that the Pentagon—and the military – both will have to do. and probably for years to come.
Pentagon officials say this challenge continues to push an already overstretched military. Add to that the uncertainty that has surrounded the Pentagon’s budget since 2011, when mandatory spending caps were introduced.
“The things we’re cutting back on in our formation are actually things that are not going to make us successful on the battlefield in the future,” Gen. Randy George, the Army chief of staff, told reporters Tuesday at a breakfast hosted by the Defense Writers. Group.
He said the military has other capabilities “that we want to expand and add,” including capabilities that help protect troops and Americans from drone, missile and even ballistic missile attacks.