And the hits keep coming...40,000 soldiers to be laid off...

via Free Beacon...

The U.S. Army plans to cut 40,000 troops over the next two years, USA Today reported Tuesday.
The move, which will have both domestic and foreign policy impacts, will be supplemented by layoffs of 17,000 Army civilian employees. The official announcement of the reduction plan will come sometime this week.
From USA Today:
Under the plan, the Army would have 450,000 soldiers by the end of the 2017 budget year. The reduction in troops and civilians is due to budget constraints, the Army asserts in a document obtained by USA Today.
Some of the cuts were expected. During the peak of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army swelled to about 570,000 soldiers to ensure that deployments could be limited to one year. After most troops came home from those wars, the Army planned to shrink.

Why is a Marine Corps centric blog raising the alarm bell about a cut to the US Army?

Easy.

An average Army division is between 15,000 to 20,000 troops (ball park).  A cut of this size equals TWO divisions.

The loss in combat power that this represents is INSANE!

But back to the Marine Corps.

Do you really believe that the line will be held at 176,000 or does my prediction of a fall to 150,000 seem more likely?