Free Republic

Some news just in from Senator Flake's office this afternoon regarding the Army's Force Structure decisions and how they affect Fort Huachuca. The delegation briefing notice from the Pentagon's Army Readiness Liaison reported that Fort Huachuca will have a loss of only 31 'slots' or 'spaces' by 2019 as a result of the military's reduction in size. The notice indicated the number of solders on the Fort in 2012 was 2590 and will be reduced to 2559 by the year 2019. Very little additional information was contained in the notice. I'm sure over the next day or so more details...

NAHA, Okinawa — Gov. Keiichi Inamine said Sunday he doesn’t buy the idea that the “burden” Okinawa bears by hosting the bulk of U.S. forces in Japan would be relieved by having the Japanese military take over some of the bases. “If the U.S. military is replaced by the self-defense forces, I would not consider it as reduction,” he said. “I do not mean only the U.S. military when I talk about reduction in the military presence.” About 75 percent of the land in Japan used solely by the U.S. military is on Okinawa. More than half the U.S. troops...

<p>The U.S. Army general who heads coalition forces in Iraq says it will be years before the United States is able to "draw down" its forces here, and he warned Americans to brace for more casualties, including a "significant engagement where tens of American soldiers or coalition soldiers" are killed.</p>

If we are to believe recent news reports, the Secretary of Defense is close to making a serious force-planning decision that could do severe harm to the nation's ability to defend its interests throughout the world. According to a story by Rowan Scarborough in the June 4 Washington Times, Rumsfeld plans to reduce U.S. Army force structure from its current mix of ten heavy and light active-duty divisions to eight or fewer light divisions. The Army's heavy forces — armor and mechanized infantry — would be transferred to the National Guard and Reserve.This plan goes far beyond the Army's...