Report: Alaska Army posts could lose thousands

FAIRBANKS (AP) — A report says that Alaska's two major Army posts could lose thousands of soldiers each to budget cuts.

But the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (http://is.gd/owwmGl) reports that the environmental assessment also says the bases that will lose soldiers have not been chosen yet, and some bases might gain 1,000 people or more.

The assessment lists different options for shrinking the Army from 562,000 to 490,000 soldiers by 2020.

If Fairbanks' Fort Wainwright was chosen to lose its brigade combat team, it would reduce the base population by about 4,900 people. If Fort Richardson in Anchorage was chosen, it would lose about 4,300 people.

But, if either base kept its brigade combat team, the force might be supplemented by 1,000 people.

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Information from: Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner, http://www.newsminer.com