Photos: Rally for Our Troops

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 20

Hundreds of Alaskans participated in a "Rally For Our Troops" at the Dena'ina Center in Anchorage on Monday, Feb. 23, 2015, prior to a listening session with military officials who will share community comments and input with Senior Leadership of the Army before any decisions on cuts are made.

More than 400 people filled the third floor of the Dena'ina Center in downtown Anchorage on Monday night to show their opposition to possible U.S. Army cuts in Alaska.

The "Rally for Our Troops" was organized by Anchorage-based business, civic and municipal organizations and was aimed at encouraging a four-person Army committee to spare cuts to Anchorage's Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson ?and Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks. The Army must reduce the nation's active-duty soldier ranks by more than 40,000 by 2017.

In a worst-case scenario, the main units of both posts could be cut, forcing the departure of as many as 10,800 troops and 19,000 dependents within a year and a half. That would amount to a loss of about 4 percent of Alaska's population.

Read more: Listening session and rally over proposed Alaska Army cuts draws hundreds