Gates proposes cutting Army & Marines

By artappraiser on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 12:22am |

Tribune Wire/LA Times, January 6, 2011

WASHINGTON-- Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates called Thursday for shrinking the Army and Marine Corps by as many as 47,000 troops, opting to cut ground forces in response to pressure from the White House and Congress to reduce the defense budget.

The proposed troop cuts, part of $78 billion in budget savings outlined by Gates Thursday at a Pentagon news conference, would not begin until 2015 and 2016. By then, Gates emphasized, U.S. forces are due to be entirely gone from Iraq and hopefully will be drawing down in Afghanistan.....

For more see

Gates outlines plans to cut $78 billion in programs, 70,000 troops, by Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes, January 6, 2011, and Program cuts let Army keep soldiers, for now, by Kate Brannen, Army Times, January 6, 2011.

URL:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sc-dc-0107-gates-20110106,0,5983251.story