US Military Downsizing, While Everyone Else Builds Up

The U.S. Army ended fiscal 2015 with 491,365 soldiers assigned to the active component, nearly 17,000 fewer troopers than began the budget year starting Oct. 1, 2014.

The official headcount for 2015 is slightly above the 490,000 end strength set by Congress, but well within the .05 percent fudge factor allowed by lawmakers.

The official end strength figures from the Defense Manpower Data Center show a Regular Army population of 317 general officers, 79,256 branch commissioned officers, 15,038 warrant officers, 392,327 enlisted soldiers and 4,428 West Point cadets.


Chapter IX Commo Sgt's comment:  Wait a minute,......the U.S. Army has 1 Officer for every 5.17 enlisted soldiers?


The Army’s reserve components had a combined strength of 466,281, with 350,023 soldiers serving in the Army National Guard and 198,552 in the Army Reserve.

Slightly more than 70,200 women are serving in the Regular Army, including 19 general officers, 14,506 branch commissioned officers, 1,423 warrant officers, 69,353 enlisted soldiers and NCOs, and 854 cadets.

How does the U.S. Military stack up personnel strength wise with allies and enemies alike?

China
Active 2,333,000
Reserves 2,300,000

Russia
Active 766,055
Reserves 2,485,000

India
Active 1,325,000
Reserves 2,143,000

United Kingdom
Active 146,980
Reserves 182,000

France
Active 202,761
Reserves 195,770

Germany
Active 179,046
Reserves 145,000

Pakistan
Active 617,000
Reserves 515,000

Iran
Active 545,000
Reserves1,800,000