US plans to cut Army, invest in future

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The Pentagon on Thursday proposed trimming the Army's size by 13 per cent as the debt-ridden United States winds down a decade of war but vowed new investments to exert power in Asia and the Middle East.

With pressure mounting to balance the US books, President Barack Obama's administration sought a nine per cent cut in the 2013 budget compared with last year's request by retiring older ships and planes and pulling back two brigades from Europe.

But the administration called for investment on new projects including a futuristic floating base for special operations and drones and assigning elite Brigade Combat Teams with language training to each region of the world.

"We are at a strategic turning point after a decade of war and substantial growth in defence budgets," Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said as he unveiled a preview of the Defence Department's 2013 budget requests.

Panetta vowed to maintain US power in the Middle East and Asia – where China's growing military has concerned the United States and its allies – including by modernising submarines and funding a next-generation bomber.

Panetta called for funding to station littoral combat ships in Singapore and patrol craft in Bahrain, part of the US strategy of forward-deploying its military to such small and strategically placed US allies.

"The force we are building will retain a decisive technological edge, leverage the lessons of recent conflicts and stay ahead of the most lethal and disruptive threats of the future," Panetta told a news conference.

The budget is far from a done deal. Panetta is hoping to ward off calls for steeper cuts backed by some members of his Democratic Party, while Republicans seeking to defeat Obama in November elections have resisted any cuts to the military and instead prefer reductions on social benefits at home.

Tough proposals

Panetta proposed a $613 billion budget for the year starting in October – a $525 billion base spending plan and $88.4 billion for combat operations, primarily in Afghanistan. He said the base budget would rise to $567 billion by the 2017 fiscal year, by when the United States plans to withdraw most forces from Afghanistan.

He proposed reducing the number of active US Army soldiers from 570,000 in 2010 to 490,000 by 2017 and cutting the Marines' strength from 202,000 to 182,000 over the same period.

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledged that the proposals were ‘tough’ and said he expected more cuts in the future as the Pentagon looks to meet a goal of saving $259 billion over five years.

"The primary risks lie not in what we can do, but in how much we can do and how fast we can do it," Dempsey said. "As I have said before, we will face greater risks if we do not change from our previous approach."

Among the most ambitious future projects, the budget would fund work on an ‘afloat forward staging base’ – a giant barge that can transport special operations or other forces at quick notice, reducing demands on aircraft carriers.

Still the biggest

Even with cuts, the US military remains far larger than those of other countries. China, which has the world's second largest military budget, said it was devoting 601.1 billion yuan ($91.1 billion) in 2011, although many foreign experts believe that the actual figure is higher.

The United States has 285 ships and a goal of 313 in total, although the proposal calls for the early retirement of seven cruisers.

Panetta also called for getting rid of six of the Air Force's 60 tactical air squadrons – meaning about 120 planes – along with one training squadron.

As previously announced, the Pentagon plans to pull out two of four brigades from Europe – for a total of more than 7,000 troops. The United States now has three brigades in Germany and one in Italy, although it has not decided which to withdraw.

In one proposal that is especially sensitive, Panetta said that Obama would ask Congress to set up a commission to consider closure of military bases ‘with a goal of identifying additional savings and implementing them as soon as possible’.

Panetta promised to maintain military pay rises over the next two years that are in line with the private sector but warned of ‘more limited’ increases afterward. He also called for increases in fees paid for health care, although he said the costs for retirees would remain below private sector plans.