Army aims to cut 32,000 billets over five years, including 3,000 in special operations
Service leaders say they are also planning for other cuts if Congress fails to pass a budget or supplemental funding for aid to Ukraine and Israel.
LAUREN C. WILLIAMS | FEBRUARY 27, 2024 05:07 PM ET
ARMY PERSONNEL
The Army intends to consolidate its force structure to close gaps left by recruiting shortfalls and to shift manpower from outdated jobs to emerging ones, the service secretary announced Tuesday.
“Because of the recruiting challenges, our end strength has decreased notably and we”—Army Secretary Christine Wormuth and Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George—“did not want to have a lot of hollow structure hanging around,” Wormuth told reporters at a Defense Writers Group event. “We needed to reduce 32,000 spaces to both shrink over structure and make room” for about 7,500 new billets for emerging efforts like directed energy, the Mobile Short Range Air Defense program, and multi-domain task force teams.
Wormuth said the changes will take about five years. Many of the billets will be cut from former focus areas, like counterterrorism and counterinsurgency.
Some 3,000 billets will be cut from Army special operations formations—largely jobs that have been difficult to fill or aren’t as relevant like print media and psychological operations.
https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2024/02/army-aims-cut-32000-billets-over-five-years-including-3000-special-operations/394517/
