Odierno Calls for ‘Tough Choices’

Citing the realities associated with the current tight budget climate, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno told a lawmakers on Capitol Hill the service likely would have to cut 46 percent of brigade combat teams in order to meet its bottom line. “We must make tough but necessary choices. We must ensure we have the best Army possible, even under full sequestration,” Odierno said in remarks before the Senate Armed Service Committee during an April 8 hearing. The active Army would decline in strength to 490,000, down from 570,000 at the height of the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, Odierno said. National Guard strength would decline comparably to 350,000, down from 358,000, while reserve strength would drop to 202,000, down from 205,000. He urged the senators to approve the Pentagon’s 2015 budget request, which would allow strength to drop to between 440,000 and 450,000 active-duty, 335,000 Guard, and 195,000 reserve soldiers by 2015.