Army drawdown continues: 1,100 captains to be cut

[MADem]

Here it comes...ugly times ahead.

WASHINGTON — The Army drawdown continues this week, when about 1,100 Army captains will receive word that their military careers are about to end. Another 500 majors will get the same news in early July.

The cuts were planned by officer separation and early retirement boards that convened this spring to review 19,000 active-duty officers for possible early separation. It’s all part of the Army’s effort to smoothly trim down to a number that, thanks to federal budgetary uncertainty, remains unclear.

There were about 28,000 captains and nearly 17,000 majors in the Army on April 30, according to Defense Department statistics.....During the height of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the Army had about 570,000 troops and has since dropped to about 510,000. The current cuts, which also include 500 noncommissioned officers selected early this year for separation, are aimed at producing an end strength of 490,000 troops — the Army’s previous target.

But the force will almost certainly get smaller. The most recent defense budget proposal from the Pentagon, now working its way through Congress, calls for an Army of some 450,000 soldiers.

Should automatic budget cuts known as sequestration return in 2016 after two years on hold because of a bipartisan budget deal, 420,000 troops will be the target end strength, officials say. Campbell and other Army leaders say that such a deep cut would be risky enough to require an overhaul of the nation’s defense strategy. However it plays out, many more troops will have to leave......

http://www.stripes.com/news/army-drawdown-continues-1-100-captains-to-be-cut-1.290104