Chief warns about cuts mean fewer troops
WASHINGTON -- The number of U.S. ground forces would drop to levels not seen since 1940, the Navy would drop to the smallest number of ships since 1915 and the Air Force would be the smallest ever, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in warning Congress of the dire implications of deeper defense cuts.
The Pentagon chief on Monday offered a litany of drastic steps triggered by the automatic, across-the-board cuts if Congress’ supercommittee fails to come up with a $1.2 trillion deficit-cutting plan by Nov. 23. If the panel stumbles, the Pentagon faces some $500 billion in reductions in projected spending over 10 years — on top of the $450 billion already under way.
“Devastating for the department,” Panetta wrote in a letter to Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the Senate Armed Services Committee’s top Republican, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a panel member.
Panetta said the automatic cuts would add up to a 23 percent reduction in the first year alone of 2013. After a decade, “we would have the smallest ground force since 1940, the smallest number of ships since 1915, and the smallest Air Force in its history,” the Pentagon chief said.
Panetta, who has used terms such as “doomsday,” “hollow force” and “paper tiger” to describe the cuts, said the military would have to rethink its strategy.
