The Defense Manpower Data Center has released new figures that show the U.S. Army’s number of active duty soldiers declined by 16,548 last year in a size roughly equivalent to three brigades, Army Times reported Saturday.Jim Tice writes about 2,600 soldiers who left active service in March have yet to be replaced and active force end-strength hit an all-time low since before World War II.
The demographics indicate there are 479,172 soldiers on active duty and 548,024 reserve forces as of April 1, according to the report.
The Army is targeting an end-strength of 475,000 active-duty soldiers by the end of fiscal year 2016 and could go down to 460,000 in 2017 and 450,000 in 2018 without congressional or Pentagon action, according to the report.
