The U.S. Army’s top uniformed officer announced plans Thursday to reduce its number of brigade combat teams over four years as part of restructuring efforts, the American Forces Press Service reports.
Claudette Roulo writes Gen. Ray Odierno, chief of staff, told reporters the service will go to 33 brigade combat teams from 45 and cut its active troop roster by 14 percent from 570,000 to 490,000 by fiscal year 2017.
He also said the number of Army National Guard soldiers will go down by 8,000, according to the report.
Odierno said the plan falls under the $487 billion budget cut the Defense Department must implement, of which the Army must contribute $170 billion in cuts.
These reductions will also trim the branch’s number of headquarters while the Army plans to reposition some of the soldiers, equipment and support personnel into the remaining combat teams, Odierno said.
