Today's Stars & Stripes was late to arrive on base, the front page leading with a
Note to Readers: that there were technical difficulties in publishing the paper. Below the note is the headline
"Bush asking for cuts to Army Reserve" with the accompanying article "Bush to propose cuts in fighter plane production, Army Reserve."
The cut to the Army Reserve is a jaw-dropper to those units who are deployed or are about to deploy for their 2nd or 3rd tour of Iraq. Once word gets out that Bush has just stop-lossed another 50,000 troops, his rich-boy approach of overextending the US armed forces to get "his" oilwells, won't bode well for the morale of deployed troops, not to mention the security of the US. The mass exodus from the army as soon as stop-loss is lifted post-deployment, will only continue.
The army overall saw a drop in reenlistments of 12% in 2004. Rummy hasn't released the 2005 stats yet, but in view of the $90,000 reenlistment bonuses currently being offered, when considering that the bonus used to be $5,000 two years ago, one can surmise that the typical soldier loves his family more than he does money.
Military family values is biting Bush on the tush.
President Bush will use his new budget to propose cutting the size of the Army Reserve to its lowest level in three decades and stripping up to $4 billion from two fighter aircraft programs.
The proposals, likely to face opposition on Capitol Hill, come as the Defense Department struggles to trim personnel costs and other expenses to pay for the war in Iraq and a host of other pricey aircraft and high-tech programs. Bush will send his 2007 budget to Congress on Feb. 6.
What a cool way to meet recruitment quotas: cut the quota~! Now we know what Cheney's been doing in his dungeon all these years: developing a magic wand that will create "boots on the ground" for his next invasion with the mere wave of his new invention.
Under the plan, the authorized troop strength of the Army Reserve would drop from 205,000 -- the current number of slots it is allowed -- to 188,000, the actual number of soldiers it had at the end of 2005. Because of recruiting and other problems, the Army Reserve has been unable to fill its ranks to its authorized level.
Army leaders have said they are taking a similar approach to shrinking the National Guard. They are proposing to cut that force from its authorized level of 350,000 soldiers to 333,000, the actual number now on the rolls.