Army announces plan to 'restructure,' slash 45,000 jobs as recruitment falls

Former President Donald Trump has long warned that the U.S. military under Democratic leadership -- and specifically President Joe Biden -- would decline and pose a great risk to American national security.

That seems to be playing out in real time, as the U.S. Army announced this week that it's slashing a staggering 24,000 jobs in an effort to "restructure" to be better prepared for future wars, ABC News reported.

Not surprisingly, the Army, like other branches of the Armed Forces, has struggled greatly with recruiting goals.

Army Secretary Christine Wormuth released a statement on the shocking news, adding that in collaboration with Gen. Randy George, the Army chief, the two "worked to thin out the number of places where they had empty or excess slots."

"We're moving away from counterterrorism and counterinsurgency. We want to be postured for large-scale combat operations," Wormuth said this week. "So, we looked at where were there pieces of force structure that were probably more associated with counterinsurgency, for example, that we don’t need anymore."

George explained that significant analysis went into making the restructuring decision. An Army document also noted that most of what's being cut is empty "spaces" and not "faces."

"The things that we want to not have in our formation are actually things that we don’t think are going to make us successful on the battlefield going forward," Gen. George said.

ABC News noted:

According to an Army document, the service is “significantly overstructured” and there aren't enough soldiers to fill existing units. The cuts, it said, are “spaces” not “faces” and the Army will not be asking soldiers to leave the force.

Social media users reacted to the news, with many blaming the Biden administration's policies for the recruiting shortfalls.

JUST IN: The United States Army is cutting the force by 5% (24,000 spots) as recruiting continues to suffer. (Fox News)

The USA: Where they will tax you 50% and your government can't even fill the Army.

Rest assured: The Army is slashing the force because they need to… pic.twitter.com/V8e8mFq0h1

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 27, 2024

Collin Rugg added, "There is a reason young men don't want to join the Army. Instead of looking into this, the government keeps pushing the same narratives that got us into this mess."

The news even generated a response from Elon Musk.

"Morale and recruitment suffer when merit stops being what matters most," Musk wrote on X.

Trump has promised that should he be elected again, he will revitalize the U.S. military and make it stronger than ever, as he did during his first term.