The Army will keep its force level about the same in Asia and the Pacific as the service looks to make cuts elsewhere, the chief of staff of the Army said.

In addition, it will rotate extra soldiers through the region from the mainland for training, engagement and deployments as needed.

Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, who became the 38th Army chief of staff on Sept. 7, made the comment Tuesday during a stop in Hawaii and as he prepared to head to South Korea and Japan.

"I think the number of soldiers assigned to the Pacific will be generally the same," Odierno said. "You won’t see a significant decrease here, and the additional thing you’ll see … as we reduce our commitments now that we’re out of Iraq, and now that we’re reducing our structure in Afghanistan, you’ll see more of the (continental)-based force who will be available to conduct operations in support of any of the combatant commanders, but also to support what’s going on here in the Pacific."

The Army maintains about 28,500 soldiers in South Korea, 23,000 in Hawaii, 2,700 in Japan and 13,000 in Alaska, according to U.S. Army Pacific.

Hawaii is "critical" to the Army, Odierno said repeatedly, and "the plan right now" is to maintain Stryker armored vehicles, infantry and aviation brigades at Schofield Barracks. The three units make up about 10,300 soldiers.

Hawaii is used to "engage throughout the Pacific region, so it’s critical to what we do," Odierno said. "It enables us to have forces forward-stationed, and it enables us to deploy forces even farther forward if necessary, so it will be critical."

As part of a Pentagon effort to cut $487 billion in spending over the next 10 years, the Army and Marines will shrink.

Some have predicted the Army will drop in size to 490,000 from about 570,000 soldiers. Odierno declined to reveal what he thinks is the absolute minimum force needed.

"I feel confident with the numbers that we’ll have coming out of this budget review, and I believe with the number that we have, we have sufficient capability to meet the needs of our strategy," Odierno said.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said last week that the Army would withdraw two brigade combat teams from Europe, and also emphasized maintaining a rotational troop capability similar to the Marines to project Army forces where needed.

Asia and the Pacific, a crossroads for world commerce, have become a strategic linchpin for U.S. economic and military interests in the 21st century, and military and civilian leaders have repeatedly emphasized the priority of the region.

While the U.S. military will continue to contribute to security globally, "we will of necessity rebalance toward the Asia-Pacific region," a military strategy road map released earlier this month states. The Middle East also remains a focal point for operations.

The Pentagon plan calls for armed forces that are more agile and flexible. With the end of the Iraq War and as drawdowns continue in what is now a 10-year war in Afghanistan, the strategy says the U.S. will be ready to conduct limited counterinsurgency operations of the type undertaken in Iraq and Afghanistan, but "U.S. forces will no longer be sized to conduct large-scale, prolonged stability operations."

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert said last week that the Navy also will be maintaining about the same force levels in and around East Asia, and would not be increasing or decreasing that force with budget cuts taking place.

On any given day there are about 50 Navy ships underway in the Western Pacific — about half of which are forward-deployed naval forces in and around Japan, Greenert said at the Center for a New American Security in Washington, D.C.

That force includes the most advanced air wings, cruisers and destroyers, and anti-submarine warfare capabilities the Navy has, he said.

"We have to be what I would call tangibly present out there, and we need to be dependable," Greenert said.

Greenert said the budget cuts won’t affect operations in East Asia, and the force "is about the right proportion, I see, for the near term."

The Navy will use the recent defense strategic guidance to make sure it meets requirements and will move ships accordingly, he said.

"My first assessment is, we’re in good shape in the Navy where we stand in the western Pacific," Greenert said.