the army is tasked with going from 490,000 active where they are today to 450 in the next two years. they ve got to come from someplace. these aren t cuts the army wants to make. these are cuts required by the budget environment in which we operate. bad news for our national security at a time when we re faced with some of the greatest threats we ve seen in decades. it s bad news for the soldiers and their families. but it s probably recognized as good news in places like tehran where the ayatollahs are chanting death to america. we don t have to live with a smaller army. it s a political choice. and i think the american people are ready for us to make a choice to spend more on defense. official today. u.s. army announcing it will cut its ranks by 40,000 the smallest ground force since 9/11. meantime the man slated to be the next chairman of the joint chiefs of staff was up on
our panel. syndicated columnist george will. julie pace white house correspondent for the associated press and jason riley, columnist with the wall street journal. george. it is to say no more dischord ant to simultaneously say the army is going to be substantially cut and that the biggest threat we face is from a european land mass nation russia dismembering another nation in the middle of the european land mass. so that s odd. but what we re really beginning to talk about now, and the gentleman who referred to the budget environment raises this is a great question of our time. which is can this welfare state with an aging population that a welfare state exists to serve with pensions and medical care can it simultaneously have a generous social safety net and arm itself? for two decades we have spent more on means-tested entitlement programs than we have on defense. and that doesn t count social security and it doesn t count
china down as number two. reporter: he put north korea and isis third and fourth. meanwhile, the u.s. army announced today it is cutting 40,000 troops from its ranks, which will result in the smallest ground force since 9/11. these cuts will impact nearly every army installation both in the continental united states and overseas. reporter: 28 installations in all, the army is effectively firing 17,000 army civilians, too. these aren t cuts the army wants to make. these are cuts required by the budget environment in which we operate. the army is tasked with going from 490,000 active where their today to 450 in the next two years. they ve got to come from someplace. reporter: fort benning, georgia will be cut by 29%. joint base elmendorf richardson in alaska will be cut by 59%. fort leonard wood in missouri loses 15% of its force. and scofield barracks in hawaii 8%. fort carson in colorado will
that s where we ll start with our panel. syndicated columnist george will. julie pace white house correspondent for the associated press and jason riley, columnist with the wall street journal. george. it is to say no more dischord ant to simultaneously say the army is going to be substantially cut and that the biggest threat we face is from a european land mass nation russia dismembering another nation in the middle of the european land mass. so that s odd. but what we re really beginning to talk about now, and the gentleman who referred to the budget environment raises this is a great question of our time. which is can this welfare state with an aging population that a welfare state exists to serve with pensions and medical care can it simultaneously have a generous social safety net and arm itself? for two decades we have spent more on means-tested entitlement programs than we have on defense. and that doesn t count social security and it doesn t count
his chinese and indian counter parts and the president. so all of this comes on a day that the united states is announcing cuts to the armed forces. we ve just got new details about which army bases will be hit the hardest, gretchen. these new cuts will take the army to the smallest size since 9 9/11. right now there are a little more than 490,000 soldiers in the u.s. army a decrease of 13% in the past five years alone. the army announced today it is cutting 40,000 more troops not just active duty service but 17,000 army civilians will also effectively be fired. the army s number two officer was asked this morning why they are making these cuts now. these aren t cuts the army wants to make. these are the cuts required by the budget environment in which we operate.