"... administration officials speaking before the roll-out of the strategy on Thursday said Army and Marine Corps personnel numbers would be cut by 10 percent to 15 percent in the next decade, a figure that translates into tens of thousands of troops.
The strategy underscores the United States' "enduring interests" in Europe and the importance of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization but says the force posture in Europe must "evolve" with the changing times.
Administration officials have said the United States is likely to further reduce the number of ground forces in Europe by another combat brigade, a unit of 3,000 to 4,000 people depending on its composition.
The strategy document underscores a U.S. interest in maintaining stability in the Middle East while responding to the aspirations of the people as expressed in the Arab Awakening last year. It also says the United States will continue working to halt nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea.
"U.S. policy will emphasize Gulf security, in collaboration with the Gulf Cooperation Council countries when appropriate, to prevent Iran's development of a nuclear weapon capability and counter its destabilizing policies," the strategy document says." Reuters
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It is always pleasant to hear confirmation of policy change that one has favored. This is just the beginning. We will have much smaller conventional ground forces. This refelcts a decision to accept the notion that we will not fight land wars overseas that involve massive numbers of grounf troops. IMO, the US Army will take the biggest "hit" in this since it is far easier in such a national strategy to justify marine forces that will operate as part of naval task forces. The USAF is an obvious beneficiary of such strategy alhough the future for human pilots is beginning to dim. SOF forces for Libya type involvement and CT work will clearly be maintained or reinforced.
Those who seek to advance Israel's interests through America's strength should take little comfort from this announcement. The shift in attention to the Pacific cannot be viewed favorably in those quarters.
We will have a lot to say about these changes as developements and documents appear. pl
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/05/us-usa-military-obama-idUSTRE8031Z020120105
