Senate provision would speed cutbacks of officers and Army, Marine enlisted

Senate plan would speed personnel cuts
Senate provision would speed cutbacks of officers and Army, Marine enlisted
Army Times
Rick Maze
Dec. 4, 2013

Gillibrand’s plan does not change the Defense Department’s goal of an active-duty force of 1.32 million service members in 2018, about 73,000 fewer than in 2013. Defense plans called for the Army to drop to 490,000 active-duty soldiers and the Marine Corps to drop to 182,1000, reductions of 64,000 for the Army and 15,000 from the Marine Corps from pre-9/11 levels.

The military services could get smaller faster under Pentagon proposals that have the support of a key senator.

One proposal would expand the pool of active-duty officers eligible for selective early retirement, making O-5s eligible for involuntary retirement after being passed over for promotion just once.

A second proposal would increase potential personnel cuts being made in the Army and Marine Corps by modifying drawdown limits imposed by Congress.

The Army would be allowed to cut active-duty soldiers by 25,000 a year, 10,000 more than allowed under current law, while the Marine Corps could cut up to 7,500 Marines a year, 2,500 more than now allowed.

The two changes are supported by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee’s personnel panel. She offered the changes as amendments to S 1197, the Senate’s version of the 2014 defense authorization bill.

The House never took up these Pentagon proposals because they were sent to Congress after the House passed its version of the defense bill in June.

For the moment, the fate of the proposals hinges on whether the Senate can pass its massive defense policy bill, aides said.
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