Sequestration Could Force U.S. Army And Marines To Cut 200,000 Troops

Budget Cuts Could Force Army And Marines To Cut 200,000 Troops -- Weekly Standard

Many conservatives and Republicans are greeting the looming sequestration spending cuts with a collective yawn. "The much-ballyhooed 'sequester' is a cut of $85 billion in a nearly $4 trillion federal budget. Good, let’s do it," writes one contributor to National Review Online's symposium on sequestration.

It's true that sequestration is a tiny cut to total federal spending. But it is also true that sequestration is a major cut to defense spending.

According to the House Armed Services Committee, the 2011 Budget Control Act (the law that imposed both spending caps and sequestration) will force the Marine Corps to shrink by 25 percent--from 202,000 Marines to 145,000. What's more, "by the end of calendar year 2013, less than half of our ground units will be trained to the minimum readiness level required for deployment," Marine Corps commandant James Amos testified to Congress this month.

Read more ....

Previous Post: The Gutting Of The U.S. Army

My Comment: Repeating a comment I made 2 weeks ago ....

.... I made a prediction about a year ago using the British template of sudden and drastic budget cuts to balance the books on what such a scenario may play with the U.S. military. In short .... I predicted a 30% - 50% cut in the U.S. military. Sadly .... it looks like this scenario is something that even General Odierno is beginning to realize may happen.