The Army is having a hard time finding the support it needs for its Aviation Restructure Initiative, as both authorizers and appropriators slammed the move in each of their bills passed recently — and the battle is likely to bleed over into fiscal 2016.
The initiative would involve swapping AH-64 Apache attack helos for UH-60s between active duty and the National Guard. The National Guard protested greatly to the plan, which was unveiled earlier this year, criticizing the Army’s move to yank attack helos from them and give them Black Hawks in order to save money.
Congress has its own issues with this proposal — specifically, the move to retire the TH-67 and OH-58 fleet to cut costs. “There is concern about the impact of the divestment of rotary airframes on the industrial base,” appropriators wrote in their bill, which approved $572 million for 28 aircraft — an increase of $78 million and three aircraft. As a result, they asked for a report within four months of bill enactment on the Army’s divestment strategy.
Authorizers, meanwhile, will be breathing down the Army’s neck on the issue. In their bill, which made no change to funding levels, they included numerous restrictions on the Apache transfer and the fleet itself. They want a study on the transfer of National Guard Apaches to the regular Army. They want limitations on the transfer of Apaches during the entirety of fiscal year 2015, allowing the Army to move just 48 helicopters. They want additional limitations on the reduction of personnel to staff those helicopters. They want the Army to ensure that the Apache is meeting required readiness levels. And finally, they want a report submitted to the defense committees assuring them that this move will not create any “unacceptable risk” to the strategic depth of the Army or to the National Guard in its role as the combat reserve of the Army.
The Army may be dead-set on completely restructuring its aviation units, but it has a long way to go before it convinces lawmakers that the plan is sound.
