The Army is quietly considering a sweeping reduction of up to 90,000 active-duty troops, a move that underscores mounting fiscal pressures at the Pentagon and a broader shift in military strategy away from counterterrorism... www.military.com/daily-news/2...
More unemployed people. I hope they know who to blame.
Why not ditch the contractors and some bombers instead? Soldiers are not expensive!
Putin is not-so-quietly popping champagne right now
Would you care to make a small wager that this is targeting particular groups?
Meh. They have their OWN armies. Where's Wagner at these days anyways
It’s going to be a lot of people out out of work right when a lot of other veterans are cut lose from govt jobs simultaneously. Trump is trying to build a bonus army literally
We're gonna need those troops...and soon.
What do you think that they get rid of a lot of women and minorities? Just asking for a friend.
Let's get them in the Blue Army!
Wait i thought they were concerned about woke DEI hurting recruitment efforts for military?!
Russia 🇷🇺 LIKES this post 👆
My concern is they will use this as an opportunity to purge troops they see as not adequately willing to turn their guns on Americans if Trump tells them to do it.
It is absolutely what they will do. They did so with leadership already.
Opportunity to bring in more private contractors/private security, who will indeed have no qualms taking out who the “money” says to.
Wagner Group 2.0
Yeppers
I see it as an opportunity to gut the armed forces of women who the current head doesn’t think belong there, then they’ll go after anyone else they think is unfit for service
Now I get it. Hire mercenaries instead. Much much cheaper.
Mercenaries are usually more expensive than professional soldiers, the upside is usually their ability to operate outside of the laws of standard combatants within the home country. This isn’t about money, it’s about morality (or the lack thereof) and the money is just incidental.
It’s more expensive to hire mercenaries than the pay, healthcare, housing for current service-members and also the pensions, and VA healthcare for veterans?
It’s true, mercenaries are cheap in the long run because you don’t have to pay those support fees. However, keeping a fully manned military of mercs will quickly outpace the cost of a professional soldier’s long term cost. That’s why mercs are usually let go after the conflict ends.
Yup
This like everything else this administration does, removes protections, leaves us less safe & more vulnerable ! Everyday, we lose more of the things that protect us & keep us safe !
I find this interesting. America, especially the Republican party has always wanted Defense to be at the top of the heat. I wonder what connection this has with Krasnov (Felon47), and Russia. Why fewer troops?,why now.
90,000 troops mean 90,000 unemployed citizens. They don't understand that these people will probably be discharged without honor. This is the next step on the Republican playbook. They will say that these members deserve to be fired.
You mean purge the disloyal?
In turn... making them an even worse enemy!! When you hold all the cookies... and they come begging for crumbs... only then will you see what those with NOTHING to lose are willing to do!!!
He’s already invited Putin in, so why not weaken the services and defense of America.
But if all the RIFed servicepeople volunteer to fight in Ukraine...
Remember when they were outraged and said Pres. Obama decimated the military?
How about a military takeover? I hope that’s under consideration
that should help with their recruiting problems.🤷
Oh good. They can get jobs screwing the screws into the iPhones. 🤦♀️ bsky.app/profile/atru...
This did make me laugh.
I was really laughing listening to him when I heard it. I want so badly to post it on LinkedIn and suggest people Open to Work should look at this new, stellar role.
Of course Agent Krasnov will weaken our military.
Let’s just invite the Russians and Chinese in.
Reduction in Force = Surrendering WTAF
Hmmm. We are going private army.
Army know Fiscal pressure 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
I see it differently. Currently, to get fed student loans, men must register for selective service at 18. With the Dept of Ed dismantled, loans will be less available. Project 2025 makes ALL men register for the draft at 18 with or without student loans. This is to enact the draft if there's a war.
And remember that a draft doesn't require enlistment incentives (e.g. VA education benefits) because military service is compelled. If you don't show up, you're charged with a crime.
I was the last generation to have a draft number drawn before Nixon ended selective service. I think you’re spot on about this. Over 50 years without a draft if that doesn’t hit a hornets nest I don’t know what will..
Don't be silly. I, too, had a draft number my Senior year. Even back then, rich or connected people never had their rich entitled kids go to war. Funny, the Greatest Generation kind of required being a Veteran to advance to political power. Kennedy, Nixon, Eisenhower, Ford. Foot Spurs Trump...
I remember well. College deferments for the affluent kids. I was 1-A like most of my friends. Joining the National Guard had become almost impossible. Mass protests ended the draft in January 73 and the Vietnam war. Nixon didn’t do that because he was a good guy..it was no longer tenable ..
I remember the day they ended college deferments. That's when one of my uncles switched his major to teaching, (which still got a deferment), and another started working on his conscientious objector status (and got it). Not rich kids, but smart. SUNY students.
Nixon LISTENED to his cabinet and advisors, most of who lied to him. Remember McNamara? I met a descendant who proudly told me she was related to him. I said, "Do you know who he was and what he did?" Apparently she did not.
Didn't Congress also cut off funding, making continuing the was impossible?
Congress is in Trump's pocket.
Very narrowly
No. Public school kids have to register, private school kids do not.
Ikayc, are you saying kids who turn 18 while in public high school have to register? If they don't urn 18 in school and never apply for a federal student loan, that would mean they are not registered w/ Selected Service. Happy to be schooled, as I have no frame of reference other than student loans.
This is all I can find at this moment and it doesn't mention an age, just that every public school kids will be registered and tested
I think the last line of #3 nails it as far as the test being administered to kids in "federally funded schools". Public k-12 schools received federal funds for things like lunch programs and health programs. So, your initial point makes sense.
Well I'd have to dig into the text of P2025 to say for sure... I want to get it right. I'll be back 🥰
Oh, and here's a handy site to check Project 2025 concerns: 25and.me
Yeah, I like having to original document
Understood.
Oh, if you mean the _Future_ state under Project 2025 is for kids in public high school to register, I thought the longer term plan was that they would be automatically registered at 18 with no choice. That's one of many reasons DOGE having our personal data is so dangerous.
Gotta find the money to give to musk SOMEWHERE!
Wait, so the Pentagon can't explain where all the gazillions go, the budget has just gone up, again, but they're letting go of 90,000 people when the country is headed for a recession? Oh, that's brilliant.
😳
Do they realize we’re teetering on the verge of WW III because of this kind of stupidity or are they just following orders? From the Kremlin
Recruiting has continued to be a problem as well, and I'm sure it's only going to get worse under the current regime. Maybe this is also an attempt to save face for those who blamed poor recruitment on "woke" policies?
Cause cutting at the bottom is always a solid business plan. Wait, no it's not. And the military isn't a business.
What happened to "provide for the common defense"?
Or are they sabotaging our readiness
That's a loss of 9 divisions when we could be fighting a war tomorrow.
Iran
The Kremlin troll needs his ass kicked first.
𝔧𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔴𝔥𝔢𝔫 𝔠𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔞 𝔯𝔲𝔰𝔰𝔦𝔞 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔫𝔬𝔯𝔱𝔥 𝔨𝔬𝔯𝔢𝔞 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔦𝔯𝔞𝔫 𝔦𝔫𝔠𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔦𝔯 𝔫𝔲𝔪𝔟𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔭𝔬𝔱𝔲𝔰 𝔡𝔢𝔠𝔦𝔡𝔢𝔰 𝔱𝔬 𝔡𝔢𝔠𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔞𝔯𝔪𝔶 𝔫𝔲𝔪𝔟𝔢𝔯𝔰, 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔥𝔢 𝔦𝔰𝔫𝔱 𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔨𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔞 𝔣𝔲𝔩𝔩 𝔡𝔢𝔠𝔨 𝔬𝔣 𝔠𝔞𝔯𝔡𝔰 𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢 .
This will be unmitigated national security disaster. No way to lean forward with 90,000 fewer troops. In addition, would never be able to rotate troops if needed, as there would no one available to rotate in. Army Reserve is just not that big. National Guard would take too long to train.
This is a terrible idea.
That’s the only way they’ll meet their quota. Nobody wants to fight for dump.
Sounds like a purge to me. I bet 99% of them will be minorities.
I mean, *I* ain't mad about it, but I feel like *they* might be. Pissing off current and ex-military is generally a bad plan for budding dictators.
What more can Trump do to offer Putin America on a platter?!! Trump has destroyed our three branches of gov, our economy and now working on eliminating our defense protections from foreign invaders!
All the non-white men?
And women
ALL women
Not a GOOD sign for our active duty servicemen/women! Who are they going to replace them with??? January 6 Rioters? Proud boys 3%ters??? His own private army? Who’s going to protect Americans? This is a Very DANGEROUS MOVE! @maddow.msnbc.com @muellershewrote.com
Making us even more vulnerable to a takeover. This is the Russian way.
Opening the gates to foreign invasion
We hand them around a trillion dollars unaudited, how?
Meanwhile Putin conscripts 169,000?
And that money will be used to overpay defense contractors, many of which do nothing related to defense.
That’ll decimate the economy
Actually, they could start in Greenland, it would go a long way to easing tensions
As Osama bin ladens family are probably purchasing these trump gold cards to enter the U.S.
Why doesn’t Trump just save time and invite Putin over to take over?
That'll be happening soon. Red Dawn motherfvckers.
They will get rid of Trump and Peter Thiel and JD Vance will take over. If you think we are screwed now if that happens we definitely will!!!
This admin has weakened us and is setting us up as an easy target for attack. Now this. All bad.
Purge troops and replace with proud boys and others of that ilk.
Going to be hard to invade Canada, the Panama Canal and Greenland with fewer troops than we have now. He’s a paper tiger.
Under putin's direction, trump is willfully making America weaker.
Don’t be fooled by this. They are going to get rid of any and all soldiers who will uphold the Constitution, not attack American citizens or invade a peaceful country.
And we know who they will be reducing.
China and Russia are salivating at the thought of troop reductions in America. Regardless of the advancements, you still need boots on the ground no matter the era we’re in.
How are they going yo invade and forcefully conquer all our allies, though?
it reflects that vlad wants the US Army small. I wonder why. 🤔
Cheaper mercenaries
Remember when going into the military was a good job option for young people in rural areas?
They won’t need to cuz nobody will be signing up or reupping with Petey endangering their lives.
All while Moscow is amassing forces and weaponry.
When you can't recruit because the Commander in Chief believes military service members are suckers and losers and the Defense Secretary is a drunken abusive TV propagandist, you talk about troop reductions.
I must assume the Army planners know a whole bunch more than I do. Nonetheless it seems an odd point in time to reduce troop numbers. We’re about to leave NATO. We are taking over Canada & Greenland…I guess it won’t take much. Nothing makes sense.
Reducing 90K of our troops, works for 🍊 ones BFF Putin.
Wow, the Army considering reducing the number of active military personal is a complete surprise… how are we going to conquer Canada,Panama, Greenland and Cuba then? s/
Easy, build up the reserves both at the Federal and States level, then mobilize them as needed. Results do vary.
If the 1% just paid their fair share we could all have it all. A strong military, safe borders, universal healthcare, a thriving education system and eliminate veteran homelessness. Instead we are here. F U 47!
I believe this is called a "purge".
I think recruitment is down. They’re just getting in front of it. Army vet btw.
What d'ya wanna bet they keep all the straight, white men?
Mostly to get us out of NATO
I'm sure Xi and Putin approve
That will make it so much easier for putin to slip into other countries he wants to control.
gonna be the great recession and all self inflicted by billionaires who could give a quantum qshit about anybody of us qbits
Does that mean we don’t need more tanks? We can’t seem to stop making those.
I'm curious if this isn't a set up to cover for the drop in enlistments. Whiskeyleaks has already moved toward an all white male military effectively discouraging women and minorities from signing up.
What do you want to bet they’ll be women & Brown and Black people…
once you realize trump works for 🇷🇺 everything he does makes sense 🤯
And in the last days of the volunteer military too!
Holy shit! This is NUTS!!!
Worried they want to install their own militia like Eric Prince’s Blackwater. I am sure Trump will find lots of money for that. If this happens, we will no longer be able to march or protest. We have to stop this before it starts, no matter the cost.
They want non-Anglos and females to be in other militaries - not the US military. At best, they might ‘get to be’ military contractors, always to be marginalized by their preferred status Anglos men. This is some seriously sick, backwards-ass thinking dumbass shit. What a bunch of idiots!
They wa t the personnel to be Anglo males only, females nurses maybe, not many other females otherwise, zero non Anglos, operating drones and sophisticated equipment, except for tactical strikes, what is needed for ships, carriers, aircraft, etc. Non-Anglos contract labor, mostly overseas-not USA.
we are so screwed
time to buy land and build fences. heavy sigh. even if? right?
Time to get really close to your community.
This, too, will be privatized.
For those who don't click thru, the important numbers for scale (about 10-20% reduction): Internal discussions are exploring trimming the force to between 360,000 and 420,000 troops -- down from its current level of roughly 450,000.
Just spit balling here...after they reduce these active duty soldiers...will the Republicans institute the draft for all non private school boys 18+?🤔 Project 2025? I don't put anything past Trump now, even as crazy as that may sound.
This is right out of the #Fascist playbook The Brownshirts are nearly legal (never fully are really) so the ONE FORCE that can oppose them must be diluted; only to be re-built and re-staffed with ASS KISSING LACKEYS. Do NOT let him attack the #MILITARY!!
Making the USA totally irrelevant and powerless in world standings. How does this make America great?
He’s working for Russia
They're getting rid of the "non-loyalists" and keeping the "loyalist" to make it easier to get the military to follow his orders and turn against the American people when he is ready for his absolute power grab.
How does that work with the warmonger in chief starting fires all over the world?
putin gonna love that
Sure, because any country the US decides to invade is just going to roll over.
If some of those other countries order our troops out we won't need as many. Why would European countries want our troops there when they would be ordered to help Putin if war broke out?
Right before WWI, there was a huge reduction of the Military. We fought with outmoded ships, rifles and weapons. We fought with horse drawn wagons in France. Again, before WWII, the same thing happened. Like Cassandra, Trump does the exact wrong things, over and over, just like his businesses.
Do they get fired from the military?
Gutting the military would be one way to make it impossible for the US to honor our commitments to protect our allies from Russia or China.
The goal is to weaken the USA - End of Story.
Counterterrorism was just messaging used to inflate the defense budget. They are treating the military like a modern business. Cut the staffing not the over budget weapons programs.
Leaving Twitter is key to resisting MAGA madness — and it’s time to tell everyone you know. www.vonhauerland.com/214-should-y...
Good. Makes Canada & Greenland slightly safer.
Wow. Let me guess who’s going to be let go first ?
I’m betting those are the 90,000 that won’t participate in the war crimes this weasel is about to commit.
So add completely able bodied and minded men and women to the unemployment rolls. WTF is wrong with these people?
Real reason? Further weakening.
More evidence of the weakening of the USA for Putin's take over.😨
This is considered strengthening the military? Must be the new math, less is more.
Will there be a test to prove allegiance to Adolf Trump?
90,000 soldiers that are mad at Trump for slicing them. Great plan. Let’s do it. 🤔
Doing his buddy Putin another solid favor. He could just as well give the country away...
So I don't need to worry about my son being drafted? 🤔
How about a military coup instead? Look to South Korea for courage.
Troops who take an oath to constitution will be replaced by Erik Prince private paramilitary mercenaries beholden to the oligarchs who hire them for their benefit, not for the defense of a nation. @booker.senate.gov @ocasio-cortez.house.gov @algreen.house.gov @repjasmine.bsky.social
He is talking about rifting 90,000 active duty soldiers. Bet he hits women, POC and those who are close to retirement so they will fall short of their 20 years so they don’t meet their eligibility for their retirement benefits!🤬
Technically, troops cannot be fired. They have a contract. They have to be courtmartialed, and that can only happen if the troop has done something wrong. Another way to reduce forces is to reduce re-enlistment. While in "peace time" they can establish Select-Train-Promote protocol.
Who are the current US enemies? I mean, before the tariffs. 🤔 Unless Mexico or Canada invade, why do you need such a big armed force?
China and Putin.. And China is busy—unlike Trump they aren’t stupid.. Both their goals have been to destroy us from within and Trump is working hard to help them..🤦♀️
China providing aid to poor people isn't exactly an act of war. The US also doesn't share a border with them... are you suggesting Trump might seek to invade China? Or, vice versa?
How far is Russia from Alaska, Mr Blogberry? You forget the Soviet Union originally partnered with Hitler to invade Poland and split the spoils.. They only joined the allies after Hitler then was planning on invading them next.. Pays to learn some of that history..
Errm... it's very close. So, are you suggesting that China is going to invade via Russia into Alaska? Has the government deployed extra troops up there then? Any war between the US and them won't be fought in the traditional way. It will be cyber, misinformation and economic.
We used to have allies to rely on as we did after 9/11- that too is being destroyed..🤷♀️
We took that same approach before both WWI and WWII and look where it led to… Hitler did quite well using Congress to promote his propaganda and keep us out of WWII while he amassed even more power.. This isn’t new…👇👇 read under Biography / Support for Hitler en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_...
Although the same, non violent, tactics will/are take place, it still doesn't mean you need such a large army. Protect your borders by all means - those Canadians are feisty- but that looks like all you need them for.
Personally I would rather have a real General weigh in on this not some lackey they put in because he will do the bidding of a known draft dodger…🤷♀️
Didn’t work out so well when we did that before WWII when we still had allies..🤷♀️
Yup, protect your borders this time. If you leave NATO.then there will be a lot of troops heading home. It seems there are 100k in Europe... which is very similar to the number of proposed cuts...hmmm...
It wasn’t Europe that needed us after 9/11- the exact opposite…🤔
And will leave us wide open to another 9/11… wasn’t that financed by Saudi??🤔
No they are consolidating power… Do some reading - China and Russia’s plan was not about traditional warfare… The goal they have been working in for decades is to destroy us from within.. and Trump is their perfect lackey for that..
I'm not disagreeing with you. I am just wondering why you would need such a large army etc to combat this? This thread is about personnel numbers.
Let’s see maybe because we will no longer have NATO covering our backs like we did after 9/11 when Article 5 was invoked for the first time in our behalf??
Because the Saudis are tired of American interference with their terror organizations in Africa, Asia and the Middle East!!!! I remember that two BILLION dollars that the last envoy recieved🤬🤬🤬👊🏻🤬
