Hagel announces $1B in Pentagon staff cutbacks

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced Wednesday that he's cutting his Pentagon staff by 20 percent in an effort to save at least $1 billion over five years, as part of broader across-the-board cutbacks at the Defense Department.

Source

Also, I got an e-mail yesterday outlining a proposal to reduce the size of an Army Squad (the smallest operational element) from 10 Soldiers to 6. This reduction had a lot to do with fitting troops into a Ground Combat Vehicle, but there may be more to the intent than some DoD Public Affairs Officer is willing to disclose.

Looks to me like the military's engine is running on fumes and some real force restructuring is about to emerge. I, for one, am all for it. I can't see why each branch of service requires more than one four-star general ... never have. That approach isn't being applied yet, but I'll be clapping my hands once a politician with some knowledge of the military figures it out. Maybe I'll write a letter to ol' DiFi. She thinks everyone in the military is crazy, if memory serves.

reply to post by Snarl


Source

Now the story is what I call looking for cuts in all the wrong places. It's still projected at over 626 Billion for next year and the chart shows nothing better out to 2018 and beyond. A billion can probably do one heck of a lot of pain the way THEY are going to see it done.....but to look at the overall total? 1 measly billion ? This is worth all this nit picking the normal people to death...why for?

I think the budget chopper needs to look higher and bigger...but those are the corps that are almost overlapping with Uncle for people between Government and private boardrooms.

I notice a few bucks worth of aid in there too.... Hmmm.. Is all that REALLY necessary, I wonder?

reply to post by Snarl


He better add a couple of zeros to that if he wants to make any impact at all. Really, $1 billion? They probably lost that in spare change in the pentagon couches.

U.S. defense spending is expected to have risen in 2012, to about $729 billion, and then is set to fall in 2013 to $716 billion, as spending caps start kicking in.

That's supposedly including Iraq and Afghanistan costs. Link

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

LOL ... I was wondering who would be the first to point that out. You won the prize!!

A 'thousand more cuts' like that one ... And the good ol' US of A can write down one of its 17 trillions owed.

The stat that got to me is that the Pentagon staff ... all by themselves ... draw $5B in salary alone. A rational man might start asking, "What good comes out of that building?" What, specifically, makes the investment worth it?

Not directing this at anyone in particular, but I find it highly amusing when certain people demand spending cuts but are never happy when they happen.

Angry young man: We have to cut spending!

Defense Department: We are going to cut $1 billion by reducing staffing.

Angry young man: Pfff.

DoD: OK, we won't.

it sems that people are looking to see some massive lump sum cut, when the reality is the small cuts add up over time.