Sweeping budget and personnel cuts proposed Monday by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel would hit some military bases hard while protecting others.
With the Army targeted to lose as many as 80,000 active duty troops from its current 520,000-strong force, major installations from Fort Jackson, S.C., to Fort Hood, Texas, could see their operations scaled back significantly.
The two dozen A-10 attack planes at Whiteman Air Force Base near Kansas City would disappear as part of a broader move to retire all of the aging Warthogs.
But installations such as Fort Bragg, N.C., and Joint Base Lewis-McChord outside Tacoma, Wash., would likely be unscathed from the cuts because of their specialized missions.
Hagel said he had recommended the realignment plan to President Barack Obama, who is expected to present his annual budget to Congress next week.
“This is the first time in 13 years we will be presenting a budget to the Congress of the United States that’s not a war-footing budget,” Hagel told reporters at the Pentagon.