(WASHINGTON) — The Army has canceled dozens of medical training courses as the service moves to manage a multibillion-dollar budget shortfall that is rippling across the force, according to multiple U.S. officials and internal documents reviewed by ABC News.
At least 34 medical-related courses have been canceled during the second half of the Pentagon’s fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, according to the documents.
The cuts come from the Army Medical Center of Excellence, the service’s hub for its medical training, headquartered at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
Those cuts come as commanders are being told to closely scrutinize their spending as the service faces ballooning operational costs, including those related to the war in Iran and skyrocketing fuel costs.
Many of the canceled medical training programs are tied to frontline combat casualty care. An internal memorandum describing the reductions cites “funding shortfalls and limited resources.”
Other cuts include leadership and certification courses for senior medical officers, including training for officers preparing to command helicopter medical evacuation units. The service also canceled courses related to animal care, behavioral science, food safety inspections and operating in radioactive environments, according to internal service plans.
“The Army has issued guidance to subordinate commands – for the remainder of this fiscal year, to make tough and sound resource decisions that optimize and prioritize resources toward their most critical requirements, to include major training and readiness events,” Col. Marty Meiners, a service spokesperson, said in a statement.
The cuts are part of a broader financial squeeze that has forced Army planners to slash training across the force while commanders reshuffle money. ABC News previously reported that Army planners had begun canceling training events as the service confronted a projected $4 billion to $6 billion funding shortfall.
The medical course cuts are in addition to what was previously reported, and the cancellations offer the most detailed account of specific training events getting axed until at least October, when the new fiscal year starts.
Last week, Gen. Chris LaNeve, who is serving as the Army’s top officer in an acting capacity, disputed ABC News’ earlier reporting during testimony before lawmakers.
“We haven’t canceled anything,” LaNeve said, while acknowledging the Army is in a funding pinch.
LaNeve seemingly conceded to lawmakers that some training cuts were planned, which he framed as typical toward the end of the fiscal year. Yet the service was only halfway through the fiscal year when those plans were being made, documents show. The Army did not make LaNeve available for comment.
Military spending does start to draw more scrutiny from commanders toward the end of the summer as money for the fiscal year dries up, but any belt-tightening is traditionally at the margins, multiple current and former U.S. officials explained.
The service’s III Armored Corps, based out of Fort Hood, Texas, which includes some 70,000 soldiers and made up of much of the Army’s tank and other heavily armored units, recently had much of its training funds diverted, while an internal memorandum warned that its helicopter units expected to deploy to Europe next year will be at “a lower state of readiness,” as pilot training had to effectively be frozen outside of the bare minimum military requirements to fly.
All of the Army’s major formations are being directed to make cuts, officials explained. The full scope of training and other events being canceled is likely much more significant.
Just to keep its helicopters flying at that minimum level required, $26.6 million was siphoned from the corps’ ground combat training units, an amount of money just slightly higher than cost estimations to keep flying time at a minimum, internal documents show, which directs commanders to scratch any training of scale. Flyovers for public events were also canceled.
The shortfall stems from a combination of rising costs and increasingly demanding volume of operations, according to two U.S. officials, with one describing it as “a perfect storm.”
Those costs include the Army’s support to the Department of Homeland Security during its 76-day shutdown, which involved border construction projects and assistance missions along the southern border. The Army is expected to eventually recoup nearly $2 billion tied to those DHS missions.
Additionally, rising fuel costs have forced commanders to heavily scrutinize travel, as soldiers mostly use commercial travel to fly to different courses and training events.
The service is also absorbing expenses tied to the conflict with Iran, as well as the expanding National Guard mission in Washington, D.C., which is projected to cost about $1.1 billion this year, according to estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. One U.S. official said the mission is set to roughly double in size, expected to grow to roughly 5,000 troops over the summer.
The financial strain comes as the Pentagon is seeking a $1.5 trillion budget next year, 50% above current funding levels. The sticker shock has drawn fierce blowback from Democrats on Capitol Hill. But the record-setting request does not account for the costs of the Iran war, which Defense Department officials estimate has already topped $29 billion as of last week. Those expenses are largely tied to munitions and do not include the potentially massive bill for rebuilding bases damaged in Iranian strikes.
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are now bracing for the Pentagon to send Congress a supplemental funding request to cover the mounting war-related costs.
On Thursday, Adm. Daryl Caudle, the Navy’s chief of naval operations, warned lawmakers that the service may soon face similar tradeoffs unless Congress approves supplemental funding on top of the Pentagon’s proposed $1.5 trillion budget request, which was finalized before the Iran conflict escalated.
“The [fiscal 2026] budget didn’t bake in [Operation] Epic Fury,” Caudle told the House Armed Services Committee. “You see a large Navy force in the Middle East. So we’re burning bright … but it does come at cost, and it comes at operational costs.”
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