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Timothy Frudd – American Military News March 15, 2024

The U.S. Air Force has proposed a reduction in its planned troop total in the military branch’s 2025 budget request to Congress. After failing to reach its recruitment goals last year, the Air Force has proposed reducing its size by 8,000 troops in Fiscal Year 2025.

According to Military.com, Air Force officials told reporters during a roundtable last week that it is targeting a total of 504,000 troops for Fiscal year 2025, compared to the 2024 budget request’s end strength projection of 512,000 troops

Military.com reported that the 2025 budget request’s reduction of total airmen in the military service comes after the Air Force failed to reach its recruitment goals last year for the first time in over 20 years. According to Military.com, the Air Force was 10% short of its active-duty recruitment goals in Fiscal Year 2023.

Addressing the service’s original 2024 end strength number, Maj. Gen. Michael Greiner, the deputy assistant secretary for the Air Force budget, said, “That was probably assuming some optimistic growth that just given the recruiting challenges that we’ve experienced the last year was unrealistic.”

 

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