US Army slashes force amid recruiting crisis, claims it's 'significantly over-structured'

The United States Army recently announced plans to cut the size of its force amid ongoing struggles to meet current recruiting goals, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

According to the news outlet, a recent Army document revealed that it will reduce its force by 24,000, nearly 5%, as part of its latest restructuring plan. There are currently 445,00 active-duty soldiers. The current full-time force is the smallest it has been since 1940, the Military Times reported. It aims to reach its target of 470,000 troops by fiscal year 2029.

The Army, Navy, and Air Force failed to meet their end-strength goals last fiscal year. The Marine Corps and Space Force were the only branches to meet their recruiting targets.

In October, the Army stated that it planned to make "sweeping changes" to its process amid the recruiting crisis, Blaze News previously reported. At the time, it noted that the new strategy would include testing alternative recruiting platforms and designating new workforce positions. It aims to attract "a larger share of the youth labor market" and "creat[e] a specialized talent acquisition workforce to initiate an experimentation and learning capability."

"The Army is not asking current soldiers to leave. As the Army builds back end strength over the next few years, most installations will likely see an increase in the number of soldiers actually stationed there," the military branch said in a recent statement, Fox News Digital reported.

According to the AP, most of the cut positions are already empty posts that the branch has continuously struggled to fill. The Army document noted that the cuts will impact "spaces" and not "faces." It further stated that active-duty soldiers will not be asked to leave.

Approximately 3,000 of the slashed jobs will impact Army special operations forces. Other cut roles will include counter-insurgency posts that increased during wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but are less in demand today. Another 10,000 positions that are used to train foreign forces, including cavalry squadrons, Stryker brigade combat teams, infantry brigade combat teams, and security force assistance brigades, will also be cut. Air defense, counter-drone units, and five new task forces around the globe will add 7,500 service members. The new positions will improve the military's cyber, intelligence, and long-range strike capabilities.

The Tuesday Army document stated that the branch "is currently significantly over-structured." According to the AP, the new restructuring will help the military be better prepared to fight the next war.

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