The Pentagon will have to cut spending by $78 billion over the next five years, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Thursday, forcing the Army and Marine Corps to shrink the number of troops on active duty and eventually imposing the first freeze on military spending since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The surprise announcement from Gates was a reminder for the military establishment – which has benefited from a gusher of new money over the past decade – that it will not remain exempt from painful austerity measures that federal lawmakers say will be necessary to control the soaring national debt.
In a news conference to announce what he described as efficiency measures, Gates said he hopes that “what had been a culture of endless money . . . will become a culture of savings and restraint” at the Defense Department.
Full Story: Pentagon to cut spending by $78 billion, reduce troop strength