Drum Cuts Cause For Joy....and Caution

The area is breathing a huge sigh of relief this morning with the news that Ft. Drum will be facing little in the way of cuts in the face of the latest budget cutbacks being undertaken by the Army. Twenty eight is the number of soldiers that will be cut from the post. That's much lower than any of the scenarios that were floated by local officials and the Army itself. With the celebration comes caution as well, since sequestration is still on the table. More cutbacks, an elimination of an additional 30,000 troops Army wide, could happen next year if Congress doesn't act. Also in question is the number of civilian employees that will be eliminated. No potential civilian cutbacks were addressed on Thursday. The 28 cuts will be reached by deactivating a military police unit, an explosive ordinance disposal unit, trimming post and garrison headquarters, and adding new artillery and engineering units.