US Defence Review: Armed Forces Cuts Expected

Photo USMC

05/01/2012 by Armed Forces International's Defence Correspondent

The US armed forces face significant structural changes as a result of President Obama's defence review, announced on 5 January 2011.

For many years, the US armed forces agenda has involved maintaining the strength in numbers required to fight two wars simultaneously. Now, it's been forecast that troop numbers will be cut by up to 10 per cent from the current total, which is somewhere in the region of 1.5 million, and that the US Army will bear the brunt of this decrease.

Indications of a new era of budget cuts within the US military emerged at the start of December 2011 when, as covered by Armed Forces International, a reduction in USAF fighter airshow demos was announced.

US Defence Review

Although President Obama was yet to speak at the point this article was being written, the US defence review's expected to cover the troop reductions, growth in the defense budget and the redistribution of military assets, to name but three areas.

It's thought that the US military will ramp up its presence in Asia and place less emphasis on Europe, South America and Asia. In this way, it'll likely have more combat aircraft based there and increase its patrols in the waters around it, possibly in response to an increased threat from China.

Visiting Asia in late 2011, Leon Panetta, US Defense Secretary, told the Japanese press: "Today, we are at a turning point after a decade of war", referring to the pull-out of US troops from Iraq. "Most importantly, we have the opportunity to strengthen our presence in the Pacific - and we will."

US Armed Forces Cuts

The anticipated US armed forces cuts and the shift away from a two-war capable force likely indicates a desire to re-task personnel with issues more immediate than the prospect of lengthy combat engagements, such as terrorism and cyber warfare.

The review's also expected to cover issues like the health care costs associated with armed forces veterans and general military pay, but Armed Forces International will cover these and the review's other main points in an update to be published very soon.