'We can take that force reduction in stride,' Mr. McHugh told the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense, which called the secretary and the new Army chief of staff, Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, for a hearing on the Army's proposed fiscal 2012 budget.
The Army actually proposes two reductions: the first will erase the temporary increase of 22,000 that the Obama administration put into place for the Afghanistan 'surge,' and an additional 27,000 will come out of Army end strength following the Afghanistan drawdown, expected to be completed in 2014.
'We feel very confident that the 27,000 is a very reasonable target,' Mr. McHugh told the panel's chairman, Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawaii."
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