U.S. Army Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno (L) speaks during a meeting with Fang Fenghui (not pictured), Chief of General Staff of the People's Liberation Army, at Bayi Building in Beijing February 21, 2014. Reuters/Lintao Zhang/Pool
Reuters: Shrinking U.S. Army increasingly stretched by global commitments: general
The U.S. Army is far more heavily engaged around the world than projected when it began slashing force size several years ago, and its commitments will be hard to maintain in the long run as troop numbers shrink, General Ray Odierno said on Friday.
Odierno, the Army chief of staff, said decisions about cutting the size of the force from 570,000 to the current 490,000 were made several years ago when Pentagon planners expected a peaceful Europe, a declining commitment in Afghanistan and no return to Iraq.
Instead, he said, the Army is regularly using three brigades in eastern Europe because of concerns about Russia's support for rebels in Ukraine. It has another three brigades in Afghanistan, a brigade in Iraq, a brigade in Kuwait and is rotating a brigade to South Korea, Odierno added.
Update: Army Chief: Russia Major Threat, Iran Bears Watching -- Defense News
WNU Editor: U.S. General Odierno is retiring next month, so he is reflecting and speaking his own mind .... Top general reflects on Iraq, feels pain (USA Today).
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