LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The U.S. Army projects that bases and surrounding communities nationwide would lose up to 80 percent of their military and civilian workforces if maximum budget cuts and force reductions take effect at the end of the decade.
The U.S. Army Environmental Command in Texas issued a report last week showing the Army's "worst-case" scenario of a fighting force falling from a 2012 level of 562,000 soldiers to 420,000 by 2020.
The projections concentrate on the most severe possible cutbacks. The report illustrates the potential fallout for communities whose economy is closely linked to military facilities.
For example, the report says Fort Campbell Fort on the Kentucky-Tennessee line would lose half its civilian and military workforce — about 16,000 people — and take an economic hit of $863 million.
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