Army Secretary Christine Wormuth told Army Times about how the service will approach a likely series of unit cuts and restructuring to maintain mission readiness with an anticipated drop in end strength.
Wormuth outlined four “prongs” that will determine what gets cut:
- soldier-level analysis, based on unit purpose;
- unit-level analysis, based on deployment rates;
- restructuring of Army special operations; and
- reducing or eliminating “close-combat forces” designed for the War on Terror.
She described the cuts as correcting “overstructure,” including units and positions that no longer align with the Army’s mission. She told a Senate committee last month that an ongoing “people night court” process is looking at personnel levels and placements, such as whether a unit could get by with 40 cooks instead of 60, as On Base reported.
The changes are partly due to disappointing recruitment numbers, Wormuth told Army Times.
“If we don’t turn our recruiting situation around, we will likely have to contemplate additional force structure changes, because we can’t have unready forces,” Wormuth said. “We can’t have hollow formations.”
ADC file photo by Will Noonan
