The US Army is reducing its force size by about 24,000 soldiers and restructuring its units to be better prepared for future wars, as it grapples with recruiting shortages that have made it impossible to fill all positions, according to a report by Politico.
The reductions will mainly come from already-vacant positions – not actual soldiers – including jobs related to counterinsurgency that swelled during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but are no longer needed today. About 3,000 of the reductions will come from the Army’s special operations forces.
However, at the same time, the plan will add about 7,500 soldiers in other critical roles, including air defense units, anti-drone units, and five new teams worldwide with enhanced capabilities in cyber, intelligence, and long-range strikes.
According to an Army document, the service is “overstretched” and there aren’t enough soldiers to fill its current units. It stated that the reductions are about “footprints” not “faces” and soldiers won’t be asked to leave their jobs.
Instead, the decision reflects the reality that the Army has been unable for years to fill thousands of vacant positions. While the Army with its current structure can accommodate up to 494,000 soldiers, the total number of soldiers on active duty now is around 445,000. Under the new plan, the goal is to bring in enough troops over the next five years to reach a level of 470,000 soldiers.
The planned overhaul comes after two decades of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, which forced the Army to rapidly expand to fill the brigades sent to the front lines. That included a massive mission of counterinsurgency to combat groups like al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and ISIS.
Over time, the Army’s focus has shifted to competing against great powers such as China and Russia, and threats from Iran and North Korea. The war in Ukraine has shown the need for greater focus on air defense systems and high-tech capabilities to use and counter drones.
Army leaders said they carefully looked at every functional area in the service to find places to shrink and studied ongoing efforts to modernize the Army with new high-tech weapons to identify where additional forces should be located.
According to the plan, the Army will cut about 10,000 jobs from engineer units and similar missions related to counterinsurgency. An additional 2,700 extra soldiers will be reduced from units that are not frequently deployed, and can be downsized. 6,500 will come from various training and support roles.
The changes represent a major shift for the Army as it prepares for wide-scale combat operations against more advanced enemies, but also underscores the significant challenges it faces in terms of recruiting.
In the last fiscal year, which ended on September 30th, the Navy, Army, and Air Force all failed to meet their recruiting goals, while the Space Force met its targets. The Army brought in just over 50,000 recruits, well below its expanded goal of 65,000.
In response, the service launched a comprehensive recruiting overhaul last fall to focus more on young people who spent time in college or are looking for work early in their careers. The Army is working to shape a new professional force of recruits, rather than relying on individuals who are randomly hired.
