New Top General Tells Legislators U.S. Will Probably Need a Larger Army

[Judi Lynn]

New Top General Tells Legislators U.S. Will Probably Need a Larger Army
By THOM SHANKER


ASHINGTON, July 29 — The former Special Operations commander called from retirement to be Army chief of staff said today that the Army is likely to need more troops to meet its worldwide commitments.

Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, appearing at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee today, said that he has not yet formally reached conclusions on a number of critical questions facing the Army, among them required numbers of personnel and the fate of some weapons systems.

"But I'm going to take a little risk here and I'm going to tell you that, you know, intuitively I think we need more people," General Schoomaker said with far more candor than usually is on display at confirmation hearings. "I mean, it's that simple."

But he said that if he is confirmed by the full Senate as the Army's senior general, he will first review how soldiers and assignments are divided between the active-duty force and the reserves before making any recommendations about increasing the size of the nation's largest armed service. (snip/...)

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/30/international/worldspecial/30ARMY.html

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