{"id":12845,"date":"2021-03-12T20:22:43","date_gmt":"2021-03-12T20:22:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/03\/12\/chief-still-concerned-about-the-demands-on-soldiers\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T01:40:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:40:54","slug":"chief-still-concerned-about-the-demands-on-soldiers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2021\/03\/12\/chief-still-concerned-about-the-demands-on-soldiers\/","title":{"rendered":"Chief still concerned about the demands on soldiers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Army\u2019s top uniformed officer said Thursday that he doesn\u2019t intend to trim the size of the service, and expressed concern that the current force might have to rapidly expand in the case of an unforeseen event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the Army is also balancing a once-in-a-generation modernization push that limits how much money would be available to add soldiers to its payroll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right now, the Army has about 1 million soldiers in all three components, with the number of active-duty soldiers at about 485,000. That\u2019s about what it was 20 years ago when the United States was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001, Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville noted during a Defense Writers Group event Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have basically the size of the force that we went into Iraq and Afghanistan [with], and we quickly had to grow that force to 570,000,\u201d McConville said. \u201cWe had to bring in about 150,000 National Guard and Reserve [troops] on active duty to get to about 720,000. And we were still extending our soldiers for 15-month rotations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Troop rotations to those war zones have fizzled since the surge years, but the Army remains taxed by ongoing demands, which include staffing about 60 percent of combatant commanders\u2019 needs across the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\t