U.S. Central Command cuts staff size

TAMPA, Fla., March 13 (UPI) -- U.S. Central Command plans to reduce the staff at its headquarters in Florida by about 1,100 people, a report said Thursday.

The cuts, which will reduce the size of the staff by one-third, have been planned for months, the St. Petersburg Times reported. Admiral William Fallon ordered a review of what staffing was needed in Tampa about three months after he took over the command.

Navy Capt. James Graybeal, a CentCom spokesman, said the staff reduction was not for budgetary reasons and that it would not affect the Iraq and Afghanistan missions.

"The boss asked us to look for ways to ensure we were using our human resources to the best efficiency," Graybeal said. "The reductions do not hamper the ability to do our jobs."

CentCom is responsible for East Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia.

Some analysts suggested that making the military less top heavy would make it more effective.

"It's less interference for tactical units in the field," said Winslow Wheeler, director of the Straus Military Reform Project at the Center for Defense Information in Washington. "The bozos 10,000 miles away pushing pins in a map that have nothing to do with reality -- the fewer of those, the better."

Graybeal said that much of the cutting is being done by not replacing reservists when their tours end.