Army won’t shrink force level in Pacific region, general says

William Cole reported in the Honolulu Star Advertiser that according to Army Chief of Staff General Raymond T. Odierno, the Army will maintain force levels in the Asia Pacific despite recent proposed defense cuts:

The Army will keep its force level about the same in Asia and the Pacific as the service looks to make cuts elsewhere, the chief of staff of the Army said.

In addition, it will rotate extra soldiers through the region from the mainland for training, engagement and deployments as needed.

Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, who became the 38th Army chief of staff on Sept. 7, made the comment Tuesday during a stop in Hawaii and as he prepared to head to South Korea and Japan.

“I think the number of soldiers assigned to the Pacific will be generally the same,” Odierno said. “You won’t see a significant decrease here, and the additional thing you’ll see … as we reduce our commitments now that we’re out of Iraq, and now that we’re reducing our structure in Afghanistan, you’ll see more of the (continental)-based force who will be available to conduct operations in support of any of the combatant commanders, but also to support what’s going on here in the Pacific.”

The Army maintains about 28,500 soldiers in South Korea, 23,000 in Hawaii, 2,700 in Japan and 13,000 in Alaska, according to U.S. Army Pacific.

Hawaii is “critical” to the Army, Odierno said repeatedly, and “the plan right now” is to maintain Stryker armored vehicles, infantry and aviation brigades at Schofield Barracks. The three units make up about 10,300 soldiers.

Hawaii is used to “engage throughout the Pacific region, so it’s critical to what we do,” Odierno said. “It enables us to have forces forward-stationed, and it enables us to deploy forces even farther forward if necessary, so it will be critical.”

As part of a Pentagon effort to cut $487 billion in spending over the next 10 years, the Army and Marines will shrink.

Some have predicted the Army will drop in size to 490,000 from about 570,000 soldiers. Odierno declined to reveal what he thinks is the absolute minimum force needed.