Military Planning at it's best

Jcleppe

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http://www.stripes.com/opinion/whose-helicopters-are-they-1.276979

It's one of those things that sometimes just makes you go....Hmmmmm.

The Army has begun deactivating the OH-58, the Kiowas at JBLM are the first to go. Seems that they are removing them in conjunction with the units rotation to Korea.

What seems odd to me is that while the deactivation of the OH-58 came with no resistance from Congress, there is a ground swell of resistance to transferring the 190+ Apaches from the Guard to Active Duty. A bill is being presented to block this move until the plan can be reviewed further.

So in the meantime the AD Army will begin to lose an entire Airframe with nothing to replace them. These pilots and crews will return to a deactivated squadron with no clear plan of what to do with them. Word has been batted around that pilots and crews will cross train to a different airframe which is fine, except for now there is no clear plan as to when they will have the airframes for them to go to.

I would think that the Pentagon would have all the players on board and decisions made before eliminating a large part of the Army Aviation Branch, but then I guess that would be a bit naive.
 
And that's why we pay the generals at the Pentagon the big bucks! :rolleyes:
 
I would think that the Pentagon would have all the players on board and decisions made before eliminating a large part of the Army Aviation Branch, but then I guess that would be a bit naive.
Maybe they thought they DID have all the players on board and decisions made before eliminating a large part of the Army Aviation Branch. The problem could just as likely be some last minute backroom deal made by a few congressmen to protect their pork.
 
Maybe they thought they DID have all the players on board and decisions made before eliminating a large part of the Army Aviation Branch. The problem could just as likely be some last minute backroom deal made by a few congressmen to protect their pork.

From reading previous article it seemed that the top command in the NG, while resistant, seemed resigned to the fact that they were going to go ahead with the transfer.

Your not far off in your assessment, it looks to be the congress members from the states that have the NG Apache Squadrons, whose commands have been the most vocal in their objections, that are trying to block the plan.

Still, it would have been much better, in my opinion, to have the ink dry on the agreement before moving the plan forward.
 
Governors Protest

Governors from all 50 states sent a letter to President Barack Obama earlier this year opposing the plan.

The Senate committee’s bill would establish a commission to look at the future relationship between the Army and National Guard after more than a decade of war in which the Pentagon relied heavily on the reserve military force. Levin said the measure would allow the transfer of no more than 48 Apaches from the Guard to the Army until the commission reports its findings.

“We worked out a good deal that will preserve the combat role of the National Guard,” Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, told reporters.

That sounds like a terrific deal;

Eliminate an entire airframe and replace it with 48. That should be the main goal, preserve the combat role for the National Guard while gutting Active duty Aviation.

From this latest committee they have blocked the retirement of the A-10 but allowed the Army to retire the OH-58 with no replacement.
 
That sounds like a terrific deal;

Eliminate an entire airframe and replace it with 48. That should be the main goal, preserve the combat role for the National Guard while gutting Active duty Aviation.

From this latest committee they have blocked the retirement of the A-10 but allowed the Army to retire the OH-58 with no replacement.

The plan is drones. Personally, despite the dangers, I am more comfortable with people at the hands of the controls in the aircraft. I think it is better than others thousands of miles away holding a joystick, in front of a video screen in a suburb in Virginia. JMHO!
 
I suppose you could argue that the military (Army) should be more politically astute but in my opinion this is just another example of politicians doing what they always seem to do; scream publicly for a smaller military and then quietly undercut the military's effort to intelligently reduce their costs. All so the politician can "protect" some element of his/her pork. Perhaps the Army should have expected this kind of selfish maneuvering when dealing with Congress.

Uncertain, and last minute budgets combined with a "hands off" approach to many of Congress's protected self interests really puts the military planners in a tough position. JMPO...
 
The days of the 58 were over whether the Guard gives up its Apaches or not. This has been a decade plus in the making.
 
The days of the 58 were over whether the Guard gives up its Apaches or not. This has been a decade plus in the making.

So in your opinion and experience, if the transfer does not happen....What's next.
 
The divestiture happens regardless. And some folks are looking for new jobs.

One of my friends at the Academy has an older brother who flies the 58. He's looking at trying to cross commission as a DCA into the USCG
 
Another point in that article..... There would be a "swap" of BlackHawks back to the Guard; the capabilities of which would more closely match the needs of the Guard's state role in disasters and such.

On the surface at least, that seems to make some sense... Not a lot of call for attack helicopters during the last flood.
 
Another point in that article..... There would be a "swap" of BlackHawks back to the Guard; the capabilities of which would more closely match the needs of the Guard's state role in disasters and such.

On the surface at least, that seems to make some sense... Not a lot of call for attack helicopters during the last flood.

Makes sense

Indeed there would be a swap. The percentage of decrease in Aviation would be 8% for the Guard and about 22% for Active Duty after the swap.

At a conference. Army Aviation Restructuring, this past mid April they stated that some Guard units have already begun the transition from Apache to Blackhawk. I would imagine this may slow down until they sort out the transfer. I would also think that the Guard will not be getting those 100+- Blackhawks without letting go of the Apaches.
 
One of my friends at the Academy has an older brother who flies the 58. He's looking at trying to cross commission as a DCA into the USCG

Yeah, very few slots for that. Many Army guys find the grass isn't all that green in CG air.
 
Another point in that article..... There would be a "swap" of BlackHawks back to the Guard; the capabilities of which would more closely match the needs of the Guard's state role in disasters and such.

On the surface at least, that seems to make some sense... Not a lot of call for attack helicopters during the last flood.

It's more than that. The Guard love for the Apache is purely a pride thing. They don't want to be "declawed" by losing that role, but it's a terrible role for them. The Apache is terribly expensive to run from a blade-hour perspective and the opportunities and cost associated with annual gunnery is very difficult for the Guard to handle. Divesting the attack role from the Guard makes great sense.

Plus, they're not good at it.
 
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