Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday that tough economic times require that he shutter a major command that employs some 5,000 people and begin to eliminate other jobs throughout the U.S. military.

The announcement was the first major step by Gates to find $100 billion in savings in the next five years. Gates says that money is needed elsewhere within the Defense Department to repair a force ravaged by years of war and to prepare troops for the next fight.

Gates and other Pentagon officials would not put a dollar figure on cuts outlined Monday, but the savings are expected to be less than the individual military services are trying to trim on their own.

Big cuts are essential considering the strained economy and the likelihood that Congress no longer will give the Pentagon the sizable budget increases it has enjoyed since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Gates said.

The plan prompted swift political reactions from lawmakers fearful that jobs would be lost in their districts.

"At the end of the day, Secretary Gates and his team will have to convince members of this committee that these efforts will not weaken our nation's defense," said Rep. Buck McKeon, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee.

Sen. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, said he could see "no rational basis" for eliminating the Joint Forces Command based in his state. It was created in 1999 to improve the services' ability to work together and find efficiencies.

"In the business world, you sometimes have to spend money in order to save money," said Warner.

In a Pentagon news conference, Gates was optimistic that Congress would eventually swing behind his plan despite lawmakers' control of the budget. He said in the case of Virginia, the state could wind up with additional jobs if the savings found by closing Joint Forces Command enables a boost in shipbuilding.

Eliminating the command would take the backing of President Barack Obama, who praised the overall belt-tightening in a statement Monday but did not mention JFCOM or two smaller offices set for closure.

"The funds saved will help us sustain the current force structure and make needed investments in modernization in a fiscally responsible way," Obama said. "Change is never easy."

Gates described his initiative as just the beginning in his hunt for inefficiencies across the Defense Department, which commands a nearly $700 billion annual budget including war spending.

"The department must start setting priorities, making real trade-offs and separating appetites from real requirements," Gates said.

Gates vowed to review every corner of the budget, including the military's rising health care costs.

"There are no sacred cows," Gates said.

In addition to shutting down Joint Forces Command, Gates wants to:

_ Trim by 10 percent the budget for contractors who support the Defense Department;

_ Freeze the number of employees working for his office, defense agencies and combatant commands for the next three years; and

_ Cut at least 50 general and flag officer positions and 150 senior civilian executive positions over the next two years.

Savings from closing Joint Forces Command will be offset by the cost of shifting some jobs and roles elsewhere, Gates said.

The command holds more than 1 million square feet (almost .1 million sq. meters) of real estate in Suffolk, Virginia, and Norfolk, Virginia.

The plan Gates outlined was similar to one suggested last month by the Defense Business Board, a panel of company executives who advise the Pentagon. The panel identified Joint Forces Command as contributing to much of the contractor bloat because it had more contractors than government employees on its payroll.

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Associated Press writer Bob Lewis in Richmond, Virginia, contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

Defense Department: http://www.defense.gov/

U.S. Joint Forces Command: http://www.jfcom.mil/index.htm