Army 'scrambling' to cut training as costs 'balloon' under Trump: internal docs

Two and one-half months into President Donald Trump's war with Iran, the U.S. Army is, according to ABC News, suffering from a "sudden budget crunch." And ABC News' Steve Beynon reports that the Army is addressing the problem by "scrambling" to make training cuts.

ABC News and U.S. officials, according to Beynon, went over internal Army documents discussing their budgetary challenges. Beynon reports that "the move is to make up for a shortfall of some $4 billion to $6 billion, according to one of the officials, as the service has drastically expanded its operational footprint at home and abroad."

"The cuts, which range from elite schools to unit-level training, have triggered a wave of abrupt cancellations and unusually aggressive spending scrutiny months before the fiscal year ends September 30," Beynon explains. "The service's multibillion-dollar shortfall is the product of a widening set of operational demands and rising costs across the force."

The Iran war isn't the only thing fueling the military's budgetary woes.

"Major drivers, a U.S. official noted, have been costs associated with the Iran war and an expanding mission securing the southern U.S. border," Beynon reports. "Additionally, expansive National Guard missions, including the ongoing deployment in Washington, D.C., which alone is projected to cost roughly $1.1 billion this year, according to estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. At the same time, the service is absorbing ballooning personnel expenses and stepping in to cover missions tied to Department of Homeland Security funding lapses, including at the southern border and construction projects."

Beynon adds, "The Army is expected to be reimbursed for covering down for some of (the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's) expenses incurred during the record 76-day DHS shutdown."

According to Beynond, the U.S. Army's III Armored Corps is "expected to bear a lot of the brunt" of the training cuts.

"That internal plan warns that the corps' aviation units will deploy next year at 'a lower state of readiness,' and 'career stagnation' of mid-level officers who would oversee key training events and noted it would take a full year for units to rebuild 'combat proficiency,'" Beynon explains. "The corps commands some 70,000 soldiers representing nearly half of the service's combat power."