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Dunford: Drawdown depends on Afghanistan

The timing of the impending drawdown of 15,000 to 20,000 Marines will be dependent on the state of operations in Afghanistan, said Gen. Joseph Dunford, the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps.

“At this point, [Defense Secreteary Robert Gates] assumes that the drawdown will begin in 2015,” said Dunford, in a Friday statement e-mailed to Marine Corps Times.

“The Commandant will brief the Secretary of Defense on the Force Structure Review Group later this month. As the SECDEF has stated, the drawdown will be based on the Commandant’s recommendations,” Dunford said. “It’s not just about a drawdown, it’s about the Commandant’s vision for the future of the Corps.”

The Marine Corps and Army each have been ordered to draw down tens of thousands of troops as part of Defense Department budget cuts.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced the drawdowns Thursday as part of numerous planned “efficiencies” designed to cut the Defense Department budget in coming years. The drawdowns will not begin until at least fiscal 2015, he said.

Up to 27,000 soldiers will be cut from the Army. The cuts are in addition to a reversal of a temporary 22,000-soldier increase announced in 2009 and an additional 5,000-troop cut, Gates said.

The Corps’ cut could range from 15,000 to 20,000 Marines, officials said.

The service completed a 27,000-Marine increase to 202,000 personnel last year. The Army currently has about 570,000 soldiers.

Gates said the manpower reductions will not begin until 2015 due to military operations in Afghanistan. The Afghan army and other Afghan security forces are expected to take the lead in securing the country by then.

EFV and the F-35B

The Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle also was cancelled. That news had leaked out Wednesday.

Gates said the EFV would have swallowed much of the service’s weapon-acquisition budget.

Gates said killing the program "does not call into question" the mission or need for the amphibious service. The Marines already are budgeting for a more suitable - and cheaper - amphibious vehicle program, as well as building in funds to upgrade and re-engine its existing Amphibious Assault Vehicles, Gates said.

Also, Gates announced another restructuring of the embattled F-35 fighter program, placing the technically challenged vertical take-off-and-landing variant — the one favored by the Marine Corps — on a two-year probation and making it the last of three models to hit production.

The decision to place the STOVL variant of the F-35 on probation was made because fixing technical problems might add weight and delay production.

If those fixes cannot be made in two years, "then I believe it should be canceled," Gates said. He also altered the F-35 production schedule, making the Marines' STOVL variant the last to be produced. As a hedge, the Navy will buy more F/A-18E/F fighters, he announced.

Gates declared the conventionally launched and carrier-based variants are "performing satisfactorily" in testing.

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Staff writer John T. Bennett contributed to this report.