It isn’t just the British Army that is shrinking. U.S. Army officials said on July 19 that the Army is actually looking at reducing the size of the force in response to the likelihood that Army recruiters will be unable to come even close to making their goal of 60,000 recruits for 2022. With two months to go in the fiscal year, only 30,000 new recruits have been signed up so far.
As a result, Army officials say they expect the service will fall about 10,000 soldiers short of its planned strength for this fiscal year, and prospects for next year are grimmer, reported the Associated Press. Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Joseph Martin said the Army is projecting that it will have a total force of 466,400 this year, down from the expected 476,000. And depending on how well recruiting and retention go, the service could end 2023 with between 445,000 and 452,000 soldiers—a full 25-30,000 below what was planned. Gen. Martin warned that if the decline is not arrested, a reduction in force structure could be a possibility in the future.
