The U.S. Army announced on Tuesday that it would reduce its structural size by roughly 24,000 amid a recruiting shortfall in recent years.
"This transformation will enable the Army to bring in new capabilities to meet requirements under the National Defense Strategy," the Army stated. "It will also allow the Army to narrow the gap between force structure, which was designed to accommodate 494,000 soldiers, and current Active Duty end strength, which is set by law at 445,000."
The result be a reduction in "authorized" troop levels to 470,000 personnel. The service branch has not requested that any personnel leave the Army and is merely eliminating unfilled nominal positions.
"The transformation of Army force structure and recruiting will not happen overnight, but changes in both areas are underway. In the years ahead, the Army will continuously transform and improve in order to become more ready, agile and lethal while fulfilling our critical responsibilities to our nation," the Army stated in its announcement.
The Department of Defense more broadly has struggled to meet its recruiting targets in recent years and fell 41,000 short across all service branches in fiscal year 2023.
In 2021, a series Army ads, entitled "The Calling" attracted widespread mockery. The series told the stories of real Army recruits and largely focused on their backgrounds. Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz at the time derided the ads for depicting a "woke, emasculated" Army.
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