SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Our Secu-
rity Through Utilizing Right-Sized End-Strength Act of 
2016’’ or the ‘‘POSTURE Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The first function of Government is to se-
cure its people and their rights. The United States 
is blessed that countless men and women have done 
so by serving in the Armed Forces, which consists 
of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and 
Coast Guard. 
(2) History has shown that sufficient Land 
Forces are critical to the security of the American 
people and their rights and to assure United States 
allies, deter aggression, shape security environments, 
and win wars. Furthermore, Land Forces have been 
proven to be essential to consolidate gains and 
achieve sustainable outcomes. 
(3) The Land Forces of the United States are 
comprised of the Army (Active Army, Army Reserve, 
and Army National Guard) and the Marine Corps 
(Active Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reserve). 
(4) On the day before September 11, 2001, the 
Land Forces of the United States included 
1,036,601 Soldiers and 212,744 Marines. Broken 
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down by component, that included 480,801 Soldiers 
in the Active Army, 205,300 Soldiers in the Army 
Reserve, 350,500 Soldiers in the Army National 
Guard, 172,934 Marines in the Active Marine Corps, 
and 39,810 Marines in the Marine Corps Reserve. 
(5) At the height of the Global War on Ter-
rorism, the Land Forces of the United States in-
cluded 1,138,907 Soldiers and 242,558 Marines. 
Broken down by component, that included 570,000 
Soldiers in the Active Army, 206,892 Soldiers in the 
Army Reserve, 362,015 Soldiers in the Army Na-
tional Guard, 202,786 Marines in the Active Marine 
Corps, and 39,772 Marines in the Marine Corps Re-
serve. 
(6) For fiscal year 2016, authorizations for the 
Land Forces of the United States include 1,015,000 
Soldiers and 222,900 Marines. Broken down by 
component, that includes 475,000 Soldiers in the 
Active Army, 198,000 Soldiers in the Army Reserve, 
342,000 Soldiers in the Army National Guard, 
184,000 Marines in the Active Marine Corps, and 
38,900 Marines in the Marine Corps Reserve. 
(7) The drawdown of the Land Forces of the 
United States is planned to continue through fiscal 
year 2018, when end strength will be approximately 
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970,000 Soldiers and 220,500 Marines. Broken 
down by component, that will be 450,000 Soldiers in 
the Active Army, approximately 195,000 Soldiers in 
the Army Reserve, approximately 335,000 Soldiers 
in the Army National Guard, 182,000 Marines in 
Active Marine Corps, and 38,500 Marines in the 
Marine Corps Reserve. 
(8) In Europe, forward-stationed Army forces 
have been reduced from over 215,000 at the time of 
the fall of the Berlin Wall to the current level of 
under 30,000, jeopardizing the United States stra-
tegic capability to deter adversaries by conventional 
force and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s 
capability to rapidly respond to Russian aggression 
against its front-line member states. 
(9) The Administration has enacted this policy 
of reducing the end strength of United States Land 
Forces based on security analysis and expectations 
of future force capabilities contained in the 2012 
Defense Strategic Guidance, the 2013 Strategic 
Choices and Management Review (SCMR), and the 
2014 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), which in-
cluded the following: 
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(A) Ending the wars in Iraq and Afghani-
stan by ‘‘transitioning out of Iraq and drawing 
down in Afghanistan’’. 
(B) ‘‘Building a closer relationship’’ with 
Russia and assuming that ‘‘most European 
countries are now producers of security rather 
than consumers of it’’. 
(C) No longer sizing United States Armed 
Forces ‘‘to conduct large-scale, prolonged sta-
bility operations’’. 
(D) ‘‘Increasing reliance on our allies and 
partners’’ to compensate for ‘‘reductions in our 
capacity’’. 
(E) Emphasizing an ability to regenerate 
capabilities and the use of innovation and tech-
nology to compensate for a smaller force. 
(10) Given developments over the past several 
years, the assumptions about the security environ-
ment are outdated and, unfortunately, proven 
flawed. 
(11) The United States, its allies, and their 
partners face new threats, including the following: 
(A) A civil war in Syria, triggering a hu-
manitarian crisis and destabilizing the entire 
region. 
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(B) The rise of the Islamic State which 
has taken control of large swaths of territory in 
Syria and Iraq and has more ambitious global 
goals, including stated intentions of additional 
direct attacks against the United States and 
United States allies, both at home and abroad. 
(C) Iran, which has continued its bellicose 
rhetoric and support for terrorist activities 
throughout the Middle East. 
(D) A resurgent Russia that annexed Cri-
mea, invaded Ukraine, and is now conducting 
military operations in Syria, with its posture 
and actions causing concern to NATO allies. 
(E) The continued military build-up by 
China and its actions in the South China Sea, 
which have raised concerns among nations in 
the Pacific and across the world. 
(F) A provocative and unpredictable North 
Korea that has escalated tensions throughout 
the Pacific and beyond and expanded its nu-
clear capability. 
(12) In response to these developments, short 
notice deployments of United States Land Forces 
have increased across the globe, including the fol-
lowing: 
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(A) To address a resurgent Russia, the 
Army deployed forces in various locations in 
Eastern Europe to assure NATO allies and to 
help train, assist, and assure their armed forces 
as well as sent forces to Ukraine to train and 
equip their armed forces. 
(B) To address the rise of the Islamic 
State, the Army deployed forces to Iraq to train 
and assist their armed forces. 
(C) To address a resurgent Taliban in Af-
ghanistan, scheduled redeployments of United 
States Land Forces were altered and these 
forces are now expected to remain in Afghani-
stan for the foreseeable future. 
(D) To help stabilize troubled areas across 
the globe, including Southeast Asia and Africa, 
the Marine Corps and Army have deployed to 
conflict-scarred countries such as Cambodia. 
(E) To address unique threats and to build 
partner capacity across the globe, United States 
Joint Special Operations Forces continue to 
constantly deploy worldwide. 
(F) To address widespread and desta-
bilizing natural disasters, including the Indian 
Ocean earthquake and tsunami in 2004, the 
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earthquake in Haiti in 2010, the tsunami in 
Japan in 2011, the Ebola outbreak in West Af-
rica in 2014, and the earthquake in Nepal in 
2015, the Army and Marine Corps continue to 
deploy on short notice across the globe. 
(13) Furthermore, the assumptions about the 
future purpose, use, and capability of the Land 
Forces have also been disputed: 
(A) The 2014 National Defense Panel con-
cluded that the 2014 QDR’s ‘‘reduction in 
Army end strength goes too far.’’. 
(B) The National Commission on the Fu-
ture of the Army found the following: 
(i) ‘‘Because PB16 (FY2016 Presi-
dent’s Budget) does not address the esca-
lation of threats to global stability and na-
tional security, it is, at best, on the low 
end of needed resources’’ (Page 43). 
(ii) ‘‘. . . this force size provides only 
limited ability to react to unforeseen cir-
cumstances’’ (Page 51). 
(iii) ‘‘Using directed planning assump-
tions and with its planned fiscal year 2017 
force, the Army is, in fact, neither sized 
nor shaped for conducting any kind of 
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large-scale, long-duration mission at ac-
ceptable risk’’ (Page 52). 
(14) A comprehensive and holistic view of the 
Land Forces of the United States is necessary. In 
particular, previous assumptions about the deploy-
ment and use of reserve components no longer apply. 
For example, more than 600,000 members of the re-
serve components have been deployed since Sep-
tember 11, 2001. Beyond these missions conducted 
pursuant to the authority of title 10 of the United 
States Code, these forces are also responsible for all 
homeland defense and critical defense support to 
civil authority missions under title 32 of the United 
States Code during times of crisis response and nat-
ural disaster relief. For these reasons, the reserve 
components of the Land Forces are a critical piece 
to the overall mission of the total force. 
(15) Finally, senior leaders in the United States 
military have expressed concern regarding the cur-
rent and future reductions in the end strength of the 
Land Forces of the United States, including the fol-
lowing: 
(A) Then-Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of 
Staff, General Martin Dempsey, wrote in his 
risk assessment accompanying the 2014 QDR 
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that the current defense strategy ‘‘takes risk in 
the capacity of . . . land forces’’. 
(B) The current Chief of Staff of the 
Army, General Mark Milley disputed many of 
the assumptions described in finding eight in an 
address before the Association of the United 
States Army, including that ‘‘wars of the future 
will be short’’, ‘‘wars can be won through the 
use of advanced technologies’’, ‘‘allies and part-
ners can provide capable land forces in suffi-
cient scale’’, and ‘‘armies are easy to regen-
erate’’. 
(C) The current commander of United 
States European Command, General Philip 
Breedlove, testified before the House Appro-
priations Committee’s Subcommittee on De-
fense that ‘‘virtual presence means actual ab-
sence. . . . Further reductions of both infra-
structure and forces will reduce our access to 
key strategic locations during times of crisis’’. 
(D) The former Commandant of the Ma-
rine Corps, General James Amos, testified at a 
hearing before the Senate Armed Services Com-
mittee that ‘‘we are headed towards a force in 
not too many years that will be hollow back 
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home and not ready to deploy . . . there would 
be no rotational relief like we had in Iraq and 
Afghanistan’’. 
(E) The former commander of United 
States European Command, Admiral James 
Stavridis, recently stated that ‘‘we’re still at 
war . . . actively involved on multiple con-
tinents in real combat operations. We should 
not be drastically reducing our troop levels.’’. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
Given the volatile, uncertain, and ambiguous world 
and the need for trained and ready Land Forces of the 
United States, in conjunction with joint and multinational 
forces, to deter threats, shape the international security 
environment, respond to emergent situations and crises, 
and, if necessary, to fight and win the Nation’s wars, it 
is the sense of Congress that the planned drawdown of 
Land Forces should be immediately stopped. 
SEC. 4. FISCAL YEAR 2016 END-STRENGTH LEVELS FOR 
LAND FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES. 
(a) ACTIVE FORCES.— 
(1) ARMY.—The authorized end strength for 
Army active duty personnel as of September 30, 
2016, is 480,000. 
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(2) MARINE
CORPS.—The authorized end 
strength for Marine Corps active duty personnel as 
of September 30, 2016, is 184,000. 
(b) SELECTED RESERVE.— 
(1) ARMY
RESERVE
COMPONENTS.—The au-
thorized end strength for Selected Reserve personnel 
of the Army reserve components as of September 30, 
2016, are as follows: 
(A) The Army National Guard of the 
United States, 350,000. 
(B) The Army Reserve, 205,000. 
(2) MARINE CORPS RESERVE.—The authorized 
end strength for Selected Reserve personnel of the 
Marine Corps Reserve as of September 30, 2016, is 
38,900. 
SEC. 5. REVISION IN PERMANENT ACTIVE DUTY END 
STRENGTH MINIMUM LEVELS. 
Section 691(b) of title 10, United States Code, is 
amended by striking paragraphs (1) through (4) and in-
serting the following: 
‘‘(1) For the Army, 480,000. 
‘‘(2) For the Navy, 329,200. 
‘‘(3) For the Marine Corps, 184,000. 
‘‘(4) For the Air Force, 317,000.’’. 
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SEC. 6. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
It is policy of the United States to pursue and main-
tain peace through strength. Therefore, any proposal to 
lower the end strength levels established by this Act and 
the amendments made by this Act must first be approved 
by Congress through the enactment of a law to that effect. 
Æ 
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