The Pentagon’s cuts

last updated 8 January 2015

The Defense Department proposed eliminating one of its 10 military commands, reducing the use of outside contractors, and trimming the number of top officers in an effort to rein in the $700 billion defense budget, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said this week. The most dramatic proposal would close the Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Va., which employs nearly 6,000 people and coordinates the different services’ battlefield operations. Many of those tasks would be shifted elsewhere.

The proposed cuts will face strong opposition from congressmen whose districts are affected. Republicans said they’d fight any attempt to redirect defense savings to domestic programs.