{"id":39560,"date":"2020-02-10T21:53:48","date_gmt":"2020-02-10T21:53:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/02\/10\/the-military-is-growing-but-some-services-are-getting-smaller\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T07:15:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:15:11","slug":"the-military-is-growing-but-some-services-are-getting-smaller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/02\/10\/the-military-is-growing-but-some-services-are-getting-smaller\/","title":{"rendered":"The military is growing, but some services are getting smaller"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The U.S. military is set to grow by about 5,600 troops across the services in the active and reserve components this year, per the Defense Department 2021 budget request <\/a>released Monday, but that growth comes as two of the services are set to contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Marine Corps will shrink by more than 2,000 troops this year, according to its budget request, while the Air Force is taking the biggest hit, as more than 6,000 of its personnel are moving over to the Space Force<\/a> this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adjusting for that, the service will add about 1,500 airmen through recruiting and retention this year, much less than the 4,000 or 5,000 the service had been adding each of the past few years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis increase responsibly grows the force to improve readiness, modernization and lethality<\/a>,\u201d Vice Adm. Ronald Boxall, the Pentagon\u2019s director of force structure, resources and assessment, told reporters in a briefing Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The budget also includes a request for a 3 percent pay raise for troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Navy\u2019s end strength growth will help man the new ships on its acquisitions schedule, while the Marine Corps is drawing down as it divests itself of some of its armor and artillery assets, \u201caimed at building a more lethal corps,\u201d Boxall said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Marine Corps\u2019 request says the move will result in a \u201cmore experienced, better trained, and more capable force,\u201d building a corps \u201cnecessary to be appropriately manned, trained and equipped as a naval expeditionary force-in-readiness and prepared to operate inside actively contested maritime spaces in support of fleet operations.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Air Force, stretched thin after thousands of hours of combat missions over the past two decades, has looked to build up its force to help with morale,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMorale and readiness are inextricably linked,\u201d Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein told reporters in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the Army, which has been steadily marching for 500,000 active-duty soldiers over the past three years, hopes to hit 485,900 in 2021 an increase of 900 soldiers from 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to have modest growth of about 1,000 soldiers per year for the next four or five years,\u201d said Maj. Gen. Paul Chamberlain, director of the budget at the office of the assistant secretary of the Army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In total, the active component would sit at 1,351,500 troops while the Reserve and National Guard will total 802,200 troops, for a total of an $8 billion bump in personnel funding, Boxall said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Health and housing <\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though the Pentagon\u2019s overall budget proposes to stay steady at $705 billion from 2020 to 2021, some money has been shifted around to address long-simmering issues that have made headlines in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\t