Congress is already pushing back against planned reductions to Army and Marine Corps end strength in the president’s fiscal 2017 budget deal, just days after it was released.
Two members of the House Armed Service Committee are planning to introduce legislation Thursday that could add up to 370,000 soldiers back to the Army’s end strength, according to reports.
Reps. Chris Gibson, R-N.Y., and Mike Turner, R-Ohio, are introducing the legislation together, Defense News reported.
Under current plans, the Army would draw down to 980,000 soldiers by 2018, including a planned cut of the active duty force to 450,000 troops. The bill would boost that number up to 1.35 million total, just below the Army’s size before Sept. 11, according to the Defense News report.
Members of the Commission on the Future of the Army, which released its report of recommendations earlier this year, said that 980,000 is an appropriate end strength for the Army under current budgetary circumstances, but that the size could grow if there were more resources.
“I believe to do so would be wise, and it would afford the Army the ability to gain some of those capabilities that are in shortfall,” retired Army Gen. Carter Ham said at a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Wednesday. “This is not just about the size, the size is important, but they must be properly modernized, trained and resourced.”
The Marine Corps is planning to draw down to 182,000 by the end of fiscal 2017, but the bill would also stop that and require the Marines’ end-strength to remain above 184,000.
