Army will cut 12,000 more soldiers to hit 2016 goal

By

Jim Tice

U.S. Soldiers assigned to 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, tactically maneuver using concealment during Decisive Action Rotation 16-02 at the National Training Center on Fort Irwin, Calif., Nov. 12, 2015. The Soldiers were part of an operation to assault and seize an enemy stronghold. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Daniel Parrott/Released)

The Army’s active component shrank by nearly 1,600 soldiers in November, bringing personnel strength for the second month of this fiscal year to 487,134 troopers, some 12,100 shy of the drawdown goal for 2016 of 475,000.

Manning data reported to the Defense Manpower Data Center shows the Regular Army had 93,929 officers on active duty Nov. 30, 388,793 enlisted soldiers and 4,412 West Point cadets.

Statistics also show that 70,009 women were serving in the Regular Army, which represents 14.3 percent of that component.

The reserve components consisting of 348,627 National Guard soldiers, and 199,153 Army reservists, accounted for more than one-half of the Army’s total force of 1,034,914 soldiers.

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Jim Tice