President Obama visited the Pentagon Thursday morning to discuss his administration’s new military strategy.  The strategy includes reducing the size of the nation’s military (especially troops in the Army and Marines) in the face of looming defense budget cuts.

The president said the downsizing of the forces will not affect the military capacity of the U.S.  Defense Secretary Leon Panetta agreed with President Obama, but admitted the new strategy could lead to greater risk for the country. 

The new strategy comes as the U.S. ends its role in the Iraq War and as plans to wrap-up the war in Afghanistan are finalized.

“We’re turning the page on a decade of war,” the president said.  “We’ll be able to ensure our security with smaller conventional ground forces. We’ll continue to get rid of outdated Cold War-era systems so that we can invest in the capabilities we need for the future,” Obama continued.

This means taking the focus away from Europe and moving it toward Asia.  A heavy emphasis on armed drones is a mainstay of the new strategy as well as utilizing Special Forces troops to fight terrorism.

President Obama developed the new strategy alongside the Secretary of Defense and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey, all of whom were at the Thursday press conference.

The complete Pentagon report can be viewed here.