Army plan to cut 40,000 troops raises questions about readiness

Support for LAist comes from

Become a sponsor

Podcasts Take Two

Jul 9, 2015

Listen • 6:50

Army plan to cut 40,000 troops raises questions about readiness

The US military's plan to cut tens of thousands of troops comes at a time of increasing uncertainty about security across the world.

U.S. soldiers patrol the Taji base complex, which hosts Iraqi and U.S. troops north of the capital Baghdad, 2014.

()

The US military's plan to cut tens of thousands of troops comes at a time of increasing uncertainty about security across the world.

U.S. military leaders say they're considering a plan to cut the size of the Army by 40,000 troops. That would bring the total size under 450,000 in the next two years. The plan, which could also include 17,000 civilian lay-offs, was first reported by USA Today and later confirmed by the Pentagon.

According to Tom Vanden Brook, Pentagon correspondent for USA Today, it's part of shifting priorities and budget issues, but it's causing concern both within the military and on Capitol Hill. He joined the show with more.

Listen to the full interview by clicking the blue audio player above.