More civilian jobs on Fort Stewart will be cut over the next two years.

Col. Kevin F. Gregory, the post’s garrison commander, talked about the cuts during the State of the Garrison Address at the Progress Through People Luncheon, hosted by the Liberty County Chamber of Commerce on Thursday at the Liberty County School System’s Transportation Center.

Gregory said Fort Stewart had 1,526 civilian employees in 2011. By 2017 the number will be cut nearly in half, to 776.

“We received about a 41 percent cut in workforce since 2011,” he said. “With the reduction of soldiers and civilian personnel, we went from $5.2 billion (economic) impact to $4.9 billion impact, which includes everything — buying power, salaries, taxes, impact aid, losing those families in the school system. All your infrastructure is impacted by those dollars, in essence.”

Gregory said that by the end of 2020, the U.S. Army’s plan is to go downsize to a total force of 450,000 soldiers. He mentioned that many top officials have made it known that at that number, the Army is going to struggle to meet national-security objectives and carry out national military strategy.

To learn more about the State of the Garrison Address, see Sunday’s Coastal Courier and check online later.