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Washington • The Air Force on Friday detailed plans to cut the service by nearly 10,000 active, National Guard and Reserve airmen next year, as part of a broad move to downsize and shift capabilities around the country to better prepare for future wars.

More than half of the personnel cuts, and much of the aircraft and other equipment moves, will be borne by the Air Guard, triggering criticism from the National Guard Association.

The Air Force said the service cannot absorb any further cuts in active duty forces because that would limit the ability to respond to multiple crises.

The cuts detailed Friday are part of the Air Force's proposed 2013 budget, which reflects President Barack Obama's defense strategy announced last month. The Defense Department is trying to slash $487 billion in spending over the next decade.

"Our decision for the Air Force was that the best course of action for us is to become smaller in order to protect a high quality and ready force that will continue to modernize and grow more capable in the future," Air Force Secretary Michael Donley said at a Pentagon news conference, according to American Forces Press Service.

George Jozens, a spokesman at Hill Air Force Base, said it's too early to know the effects at the northern Utah base.

He noted, however, that the 12-page document detailing the plan reiterates the Air Force's commitment to the F-35A as its future fighter.

HAFB, along with Burlington Air National Guard Base in Vermont, remain the Air Force's choices to initially operate the F-35 program.

The Air Force also said it intends to extend the life of about 350 F-16 fighter jets; HAFB's Ogden Air Logistics Center provides worldwide engineering and logistics management for the F-16 Fighting Falcon.

However, the center also provides engineering and logistics management for the A-10 Thunderbolt, and the new plan calls for retiring 102 of those aircraft, nearly a third of the fleet.

Overall, about 3,900 active duty, 5,100 Air Guard and 900 Air Force reserves would be cut in the next year. The Air Force would cut 286 aircraft, including 123 fighters, 133 mobility aircraft and 30 intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms, the secretary said, according to the press service.

Retired Maj. Gen. Gus Hargett Jr., president of The National Guard Association of the United States, was not happy.

"The Air Force's definition of 'balanced' cuts tilts heavily against the nation's most experienced and cost-effective flying units," he said in a news release. " … The Air National Guard is apparently taking the bulk of the cuts."

He also called the Air Force's process in revealing its budget troubling: "The ink has been dry for weeks, yet details are deliberately being released in bits and pieces over several weeks, with those most affected among the last to know."

In its detailed document, the Air Force said the 2013 budget request would achieve $8.7 billion in savings and would directly affect in 33 states. —

The Air Force cuts

The Air Force report mentions Utah's Hill Air Force Base only once — as a preferred base for the F-35 along with Burlington Air National Guard Base in Vermont.