By Lolita C. Baldor
Washington (AP) – The army provides for a radical transformation which will merge or close the registered office, unload the vehicles and obsolete planes, Slash up to 1,000 employees of the Pentagon headquarters and moves staff to units on the ground, according to a new memo and American officials familiar with the modifications.
In a memo published Thursday, the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, ordered the transformation of “building a leaner and more deadly force”. Discussions on changes have been held for weeks, including decisions to combine a number of army orders.
Colonel Dave Butler, an army spokesman, said that potential over five years are nearly $ 40 billion.
US officials said up to 40 general officers could be cut as a result of restructuring. They spoke under the cover of anonymity to discuss staff issues.
The changes arise while the Pentagon is under pressure to reduce expenses and staff in the context of broader reductions in the federal government pushed by the administration of President Donald Trump and the government’s Ministry of Elly Musk.
In his memo, Hegseth said that the army should eliminate unnecessary spending and prioritize air defense and anti-missile improvements, long-range fires, cyber, electronic war and counter-space capacities.
More specifically, he declared that the army must merge the command of the army and the training and the doctrine of the command into an entity and the merger of the forces, Army North and Army South in a single headquarters “focused on the defense of the fatherland and the partnership with our allies of the Western hemisphere”.
In addition, he called on the army to consolidate the units, in particular the command of joint ammunition and the maintenance command, as well as operations in various deposits and arsenals.
The officials said that even if the mergers will lead to fewer staff positions, there will be no decrease in the overall army size. Instead, soldiers would be moved to other positions.
On the cup block, the programs of inherited arms and equipment, such as the Humvee and certain helicopter training, as well as a certain number of armor and aviation units through the forces in active service, the National Guard and the Reserve. The units have not been identified.
A key problem, however, will be the congress.
For years, legislators have rejected the efforts of the army and the Pentagon to kill a wide range of programs, often because they are located in the districts of origin of the members.
The Ministry of Defense and the heads of service learned a long time ago to disseminate the head office, deposits, troops and facilities across the country to maximize the support of the congress. But these efforts were also hampered later to chop the programs.
It is not clear if the room and the Senate will allow all the cuts or will simply add money to the budget to keep a little intact.
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
