Securing America: Military Budget Cuts
The Defense Department has been ordered to cut their budget in a big way, and the Pentagon has settled on its plan for finding nearly a half-trillion dollars in savings over the next decade.
FOX News Radio’s Jared Halpern reports from Washington in our ongoing series on national security:
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta calls it a new strategy for the military.
(Panetta) “It will be far more lethal, battle-hardened and ready.”
The 2012 budget blueprint plans for a smaller force – 70,000 fewer Army soldiers and 20,000 fewer Marines five years from now.
(Panetta) “We will have a significant land force presence in places like Korea and in the Middle East.”
But, Panetta adds, a smaller footprint in Europe. Big-ticket items, like new stealth jets, could also be delayed.
Republican lawmakers are critical. Texas Senator John Cornyn, warning the shrinking force puts the country in grave danger.
In Washington, Jared Halpern, FOX News Radio.
