Army to force out 550 majors; some in Afghanistan

photo U.S. soldiers stand guard in Kabul, Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON - The Army says it will soon notify 550 majors that they must leave the service by next spring as part of a budget-driven downsizing of the service.

Some of those soldiers will get the bad news while they are on the front lines in Afghanistan.

Gen. John Campbell says notifying troops on the warfront that they are out of a job is difficult. But he says some could join the National Guard or the Army Reserve.

The Army was criticized when senior leaders recently told nearly 1,200 captains that they had to leave the service - 48 of them were deployed to Afghanistan.

The Army has close to 514,000 soldiers now, but due to budget cuts must be down to 510,000 by October, and down to 490,000 by October 2015.

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