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As the services face deep cuts in defense spending, the Army is going forward with plans to cut 8,700 civilian positions by September, according to the Washington Post.

Commanders are authorized to use "all available options" to make the cuts including early retirement and voluntary separation pay, according to a Defense Department statement released on Thursday.

“To the maximum extent possible, the Army will rely on voluntary departures to achieve these manpower reductions,” Thomas R. Lamont, assistant secretary of the Army for manpower and reserve affairs, said in the statement.

Almost all of the cuts will be from Installation and Management Command, Army Materiel Command and Training and Doctrine Command, the statement says.

Read 'Army slashing 8,700 jobs as budget cuts begin' by the Washington Post.

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