Since 2010, the U.S. Army has cut 80,000 soldiers from its ranks. It plans to complete a further reduction of 40,000 more by the end of fiscal year 2017, for an overall 21 percent reduction of Army active forces down to 450,000 soldiers.
The reductions in force were described in a July 2015 report to Congress that was released last week under the Freedom of Information Act. See Department of the Army, Notification to Congress on the Permanent Reduction of Sizable Numbers of Members of the Armed Forces, 10 July 2015.
“Nearly every Army installation will experience reductions of some size,” the report indicated. Six installations will be reduced by more than 1,000 Soldiers: Fort Benning (Georgia), Fort Bliss (Texas), Fort Hood (Texas), Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (Alaska), Joint Base Lewis-McChord (Washington), and Schofield Barracks (Hawaii).
The report “includes an evaluation of the local economic, strategic, and operational consequences of the reductions at these six installations.”
Additional reductions in the civilian Army workforce are expected to total around 17,000 by FY 2019.
“The Army will continue to be a force that can deploy and sustain capabilities across the range of military operations anywhere in the world on short notice,” the report said.
However, “force structure reductions and the resulting impacts on installation populations could be significant to both military communities and to the defense posture of our nation,” it concluded.
The newly-released Army report was also discussed in “Army Bases Bleed, Then BRAC Comes” by Sydney J. Freedberg Jr., Breaking Defense, October 21.
The history, status and possible future of current Army combat vehicles were examined in a new report from the Congressional Research Service. See The Army’s M-1 Abrams, M-2/M-3 Bradley, and M-1126 Stryker: Background and Issues for Congress, October 15, 2015.
The Federation of American Scientists supports H.R. 471, the re-introduction of the Fix Our Forests Act.
As people become less able to distinguish between what is real and what is fake, it has become easier than ever to be misled by synthetic content, whether by accident or with malicious intent. This makes advancing alternative countermeasures, such as technical solutions, more vital than ever before.
Throughout this phase of work, there are many actions hiring managers and staffing specialists can take to streamline the process and improve the quality of eligible candidates. Most importantly, hiring managers and staffing specialists can collaborate within and across agencies to expedite and simplify the process.
The next administration should establish a Participatory Technology Assessment unit to ensure federal S&T decisions benefit society.