[Theateetetuig]

LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,5983251.story

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates called Thursday for shrinking the Army and Marine Corps by as many as 47,000 troops, opting to cut ground forces in response to pressure from the White House and Congress to reduce the defense budget.

The proposed troop cuts, part of $78 billion in budget savings outlined by Gates Thursday at a Pentagon news conference, would not begin until 2015 and 2016. By then, Gates emphasized, U.S. forces are due to be entirely gone from Iraq and hopefully will be drawing down in Afghanistan.

The decision to shrink U.S. ground forces is a reversal for the Pentagon only four years after the Army and Marines were expanded in order to fight simultaneous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan without breaking the force. The move reflects the growing recognition that the larger force structure will not be required or affordable indefinitely.