Experts divided on Pentagon's proposed cuts

Under the cuts, the Pentagon would become an "agile and flexible military force we need for the future," Panetta said. For example, he said, the Army will save money by pulling two of its four brigades out of permanent bases in Europe to bases in the United States.

But at the same time, the Army will increase rotational deployments to bases so more units will have an opportunity to train with NATO allies. And the Navy will be getting rid of older ships that don't have the latest ballistic missile defense, but buying new ones that will have that capability.

If approved by Congress, the savings next year and the following nine years would be achieved by such measures as trimming the numbers of troops in the Army and Marine Corps and retiring nearly a dozen older Navy ships and six Air Force tactical squadrons, as well as smaller pay raises for troops beginning in 2015.

The Army's cost savings will come from reducing the "end strength," the total number of active duty soldiers. There are currently 556,000 soldiers in the Army, but Panetta would reduce that number to 490,000.

A similar move is being planned for the Marines, which would drop to 182,000 from the current level of 200,000 active duty Marines. Both the Army and Marine end strengths would be slightly higher than they were just prior to 9/11.

Both drops in troop levels will take place over the next five years, Panetta said.

Because there will be fewer soldiers and Marines to support, the Air Force is being asked to reduce its airlift fleet. The budget also calls for a reduction of six tactical air squadrons as well as one training squadron. Panetta insists that such moves will mean "minimal risk to our dominance of the skies."

The Navy has perhaps the most difficult duty. Panetta and President Obama have both repeatedly said the United States remains committed to the Asia-Pacific region, which it now supports largely through the 7th Fleet.

But the budget calls for retiring seven old cruisers and two small amphibious ships. The Navy also will delay buying a dozen new ships by a year or more to save money in the short term.

The portion of the outline that may trigger the most opposition is a plan aimed at troops' salaries and retired troops' health benefits. Panetta promised full pay raises for fiscal 2013 and 2014, but he said, "We will achieve some cost savings by providing more limited pay raises beginning in 2015."

As for health care, he plans no changes for active duty troops and their families, but "we decided that to help control the growth of health care costs, we are recommending increases in health care fees, co-pays and deductibles for retirees," Panetta said.