U.S. Army cutting nearly 9 percent of its forces by 2016

• 50k number of troops the U.S. Army plans to trim from its roster
• 8.6% the share of the Army being cut over the next five years
• 22k number of soldiers getting cut in the first round source

» Going on a diet: With over half a million soldiers, the U.S. Army isn’t lacking in warm bodies, but those numbers went way up in recent years, in part due to the troop surge in Afghanistan. With the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan winding down, the Army is ready to move on. “We feel that with the demand going down in Iraq and Afghanistan, and given the time to conduct a reasonable drawdown, we can manage (the force reduction) just as we have managed drawdowns in the past,” noted Lt. Gen. Thomas Bostick. Is this nearly enough?

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