January 26, 2012 | 12:30 PM | By

2013 Budget: Cuts to Marines and Army, Build Up of Special Ops

FILED UNDER: Defense Budget, Life in the Military, Veterans, War, Barack Obama, defense budget, Defense cuts, Fiscal 2013 Budget, Leon Panetta, Marine Corps, Martin Dempsey, Military budget, Pentagon, Pentagon budget, special operations forces, U.S. Army, U.S. Special Operations Command, United States Secretary of Defense

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Defense Secretary Leon Panetta

The specifics of the Obama administration’s so-called meaner, leaner military were announced today. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta briefed reporters about his priorities for the fiscal 2013 Pentagon budget, and what kind of cuts are needed to fulfill the president’s future defense strategy he announced earlier this month.

That strategy, says Panetta, boils down to the following:

Reductions in the end strength of the Army and Marine Corps, an increase in special operations forces and maintaining the number of big-deck carriers.

Under Panetta’s proposed budget, the number of Marines would go from 202,000 down to 182,000 — which is still higher than the number of Marines on 9/11, Panetta was quick to point out. There would be no cuts to the Marine Corps Reserve.

In addition, as Home Post reported yesterday, the Army would cut 80,000 combat troops as part of the new defense budget, going from a force of 562,000 down to 490,000.

Then there’s the matter of pay increases, according to the Marine Corps Times:

For 2013 and 2014, the Defense Department is budgeting for military raises that fully match the average increase in private-sector wages… That means the Jan. 1, 2013 raise would be 1.7 percent, under the Obama administration plan.

But Panetta warned that in years 2015 and later pay increases would be more “limited.”

You can look at the Budget Decision Documents released by the Defense Department by clicking here.