Fort Huachuca’s active duty population will be reduced by approximately 114 Soldiers from Fiscal Year 2015 to Fiscal Year 2017. While the cut is less than five percent of the base’s military manpower, the ripple effects will be felt across southern Arizona.
By the end of fiscal 2018, the active Army expects to have drawn down in size from 490,000 to 450,000, said Army officials during a press conference at the Pentagon, this week. The service will also shrink the size of several brigade combat teams and will cut 17,000 civilian employees.
“These are incredibly difficult choices,” said Brig. Gen. Randy George, director of force management for the Army. “The Army followed a long and deliberate process that included utilization of a [Government Accountability Office]-endorsed military value analysis process, and an inclusive total Army analysis, in order to determine the best construct for the Army, based on the threats we face and the current fiscal environment we must operate in.”
The most-recently announced cuts will heavily affect six installations, where more than 1,000 Soldiers will be cut. These locations include 3,402 Soldiers on Fort Benning, Georgia; 3,350 Soldiers on Fort Hood, Texas; 2,631 Soldiers on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska; 1,251 Soldiers on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington; 1,214 Soldiers on Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; and 1,219 Soldiers on Fort Bliss, Texas.
By the end of fiscal 2015, the force will be at 490,000 Soldiers; at the end of FY16, 475,000; at the end of FY17, 460,000; and at the end of FY17, 450,000.
In 2012, the regular Army had an end strength of about 570,000 Soldiers, during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. In 2013, the Army announced a drawdown of 80,000, to be completed by the end of FY17, that would bring the size of the Army to 490,000 Soldiers. The newest reductions of 40,000, in support of the president’s budget, will further reduce the force to 450,000 by the end of 2018.
Among civilians, there will be a 17,000-person reduction in fiscal years 2016 and 2017. The Army has said that these reductions can be achieved through attrition and by not filling currently unfilled positions. The Army has already cut the civilian workforce by 8,000. The additional 17,000 cuts will mean a total loss of 25,000 Army civilians by FY17.
“Fort Huachuca is a national security treasure that is home to some of our military’s most important missions, and with the growing threats we face around the world, these personnel reductions are short-sighted and dangerous to national defense,” said Rep. Martha McSally in a statement issued this week. “Our military budget decisions need to be driven by strategy and the best way to defend American lives and our interests, not a meat-cleaver approach to budgeting. I’ve repeatedly called for a reversal of the across-the-board cuts established in 2011 and will continue to work with my colleagues on solutions that ensure our national defense and the safety and security of our troops overseas.”