‘The Army is redefining widespread personnel shortages as exactly what we need to make mission’
By J.M. Phelps
Army Pathfinders
Downsizing its force from 494,000 to 470,000 soldiers by fiscal year 2029, the U.S. Army claims it’s preparing its fighting force for future wars. The 24,000-person reduction is being touted as serving to restructure the “largely unmanned ‘hollow’ force structure and build new formations equipped with new capabilities needed for large scale combat operations [as it seeks] a high state of readiness.”
Ironically, with continued recruiting shortfalls in recent years, the Army is also claiming the restructuring effort will help “build back its end strength.” Over the last two fiscal years, the Army missed its recruiting goals by an eye-opening 26,000 recruits – almost the same number it now claims to be intentionally cutting.
WND spoke to Dr. Grant Smith, an Army major stationed in Fort Riley, Kansas, who sees “a combination of factors” as responsible for the Army restructuring its force: “They do need to restructure in order to meet changing demands and priorities,” he said, “but they also don’t have enough people to fill certain positions.” As a result, Smith suspects, the nation’s largest land service branch is lowering the bar to meet its actual recruiting results.
But Lt. Col. Rob Lodewick of the Army’s Office of the Chief of Public Affairs tells WND that, rather than lowering the bar, senior leaders are “taking a wholistic approach to how we conduct recruiting and are initiating several important transformation efforts and initiatives such as creating specialized recruiting Warrant Officer fields, reviewing potential changes in our enlistment incentives programs, and the planned creation of an Innovation Directorate to leverage cutting-edge recruiting technology and best practices from Department of Defense (DOD) and civilian hiring experts.”