Army National Guard cutting troops

Wisconsin to lose three units and 300 positions

The Wisconsin Army National Guard is shrinking.

As part of a directive from National Guard headquarters, the Wisconsin force will lose three units in the state by 2017, along with about 300 Guard positions.

The reductions come as part of the Department of Defense plan to trim the guard by 15,000 troops by 2017.

The cuts are lingering parts of the Budget Control Act, passed in 2011, which plans for about a trillion dollars in federal cuts over a 10-year period. The units to be cut by the Guard in Wisconsin are headquartered in Chippewa Falls and Hayward.