Senate Armed Services Committee Adopts Lieberman Amendment to Grow the Army

WASHINGTON, DC -- In its mark of the National Defense Authorization Act, the Senate Committee on Armed Services adopted an amendment introduced by Senator Joseph I. Lieberman (ID-CT) that will give the Secretary of Defense new authority to grow the U.S. Army by an additional 30,000 active duty soldiers. The bill provides the new authority for fiscal years 2011 and 2012, and the Secretary of Defense has the necessary authorities to begin growing the force toward that goal.

"The number of deployed soldiers is set to rise through the rest of this year, and signs of stress in the force are all too evident," Lieberman said. "I am proud that the committee has decided to give the Army authority to grow, and call upon the Secretary of Defense to act immediately to do so. Increasing the number of soldiers is an essential first step to easing the burden on the overall force."

In recent months, Lieberman has argued that the only way to reduce stress on the force will be to add new soldiers. Senator Lieberman wrote in a June 15th op-ed published in Defense News: "We know the demand for greater Army end-strength is real and urgent. The number of deployed soldiers will increase into next year because we will be sending more troops to win the war in Afghanistan before a large number of soldiers begin to return from Iraq. If all goes according to plan, the strain on the force will begin to ease by 2011, and the size of the Army can be reduced. But, while the need is greater, Army end-strength must be increased."

In a parallel effort, the Senate Armed Service Committee's report to Congress also requires the Secretary of the Army to submit a study on the impact of the decision to reduce the size of the active duty force from 48 to 45 planned brigades at a time when the demand for troops is increasing.