That manning level was achieved in January, culminating a 65,000-soldier buildup that began six years ago, and that over the past 18 months has benefited from the reluctance of soldiers to leave active duty at a time of high unemployment and economic uncertainty in the civilian sector.
The Army began putting the brakes on manning efforts early this year by cutting the size and number of bonuses and by reducing the annual recruiting mission from 80,000 to 65,000, and the retention goal from 65,000 to 55,000.