US to cut 40,000 soldiers from Army

The US Army is to cut 40,000 soldiers from its ranks over the next two years at home and abroad, a defense official said, in a move that will raise doubts about its ability to fight wars.

Under the cost-cutting plan, the Army will be down to 450,000 soldiers at the end of the 2017 budget year, even though in 2013 it argued in budgetary documents that going below 450,000 troops might mean it could not win a war, USA Today said.



By comparison, the Army swelled to 570,000 men and women during the peak of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, the newspaper said.

Some 17,000 civilians working for the Army will also be laid off, the official told AFP, confirming the USA Today report.

The paper quoted a document it had obtained and said the cuts are being made to save money.