THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 9, 1994 TAG: 9412090811
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A16 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
The Army and Air Force announced personnel reductions Thursday that will cut tens of thousands from the military's uniformed and civilian ranks over the next two years.
The Army will go from 12 to 10 active-duty divisions and cut thousands more positions from the support ranks for a net reduction of about 10 percent over the next 19 months.
Army cuts will fall most heavily on Kansas, Colorado and Texas with lesser reductions in California, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland and Kentucky.
An Air Force plan cuts 11,700 civilian positions from the work force in the next seven months as the first phase in a reduction of 38,000 civilian positions.
As of Sept. 30, the Air Force had 152,747 civilians on its payroll.
Under the long-anticipated Army plan, the 194th Separate Armored Brigade at Fort Knox, Ky., and the 3rd Brigade of the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, will be inactivated in the next seven months.
In the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, 1995, the Army will close down headquarters and supporting units of the 1st Infantry Division - the famed ``Big Red One'' - at Fort Riley, Kan., and the 4th Infantry (Mechanized) at Fort Carson, Colo.
One brigade at Fort Carson will also be inactivated with the remaining brigade falling under the command of the 2nd Armored Division at Fort Hood, Texas.
Two brigades remaining at Fort Riley will be aligned with divisions stationed in Germany.
Two Continental Army Headquarters units, one at the Presidio in San Francisco, the other at Fort Meade, Md., will be inactivated with some of the relatively small number of people working there being reassigned to the two remaining headquarters units in Atlanta and Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
The Army plan also involves shifting of several units in an effort to balance the force between the Atlantic and Pacific theaters of operation and to streamline overall operations.
In all, the Army plan cuts 45,000 active soldiers and 644 civilian positions and brings the active duty force down from a current level of 540,000 to 495,000. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
LOCAL CUTS
103 civilian positions will be cut at Langley Air Force Base in
Hampton.
by CNB