Extended deployments hamper National Guard aviation plans.

• Author: Peck, Michael

Army National Guard aviation unit intend to modernize their equipment so they can be more closely integrated with the Army's future force. Yet Guard officials worry that funding shortfalls and extended military operation will make this goal unattainable.

By fiscal year 2007, the Guard will have fewer aircraft overall, but more of its aircraft will be operational, officials said. Some of the Guard aviation assets are expected to grow, as a result of projected aircraft transfers from the active-duty Army, The Guard's UH-60 Black Hawk fleet will increase from 505 to 687, AH-64 Apaches from 128 to 248 (evenly split between A and D models) and CH-47 Chinooks from 133 to 135.

For several years, the Guard has tried to rid itself of Vietnam-era legacy aircraft that are frequently grounded due to malfunctions. The AH-1 attack helicopters were phased out in 2001. The last of its UH-1 Hueys will be gone by 2004 and the OH-58A/C Kiowa Warriors should be retired by 2005.

"This is a move to take us from legacy systems and the Interim Force so we can be postured for the Objective Force," said Col. George Gluski, chief of the National Guard Bureau's Aviation and Safety Bureau.

"The [Army] Chief of Staff wanted to put everyone on the same footing, because we have a lot of legacy airplanes that were not deployable assets. This puts us on the same level as the active component in terms of modernized systems as mobilization draws more and more Guard units in," he said in an interview.

With the new equipment comes a leaner organization that slashes the Guard's aircraft fleet by 26 percent. Divisional attack battalions will decline from 13 to nine, and overall aviation companies from 297 to 271. Unit sizes will also shrink, with divisional attack battalions having 18 helicopters instead of 24.

"We have been woefully under-resourced of maintainers at the unit level," said Gluski. "For example, an Apache battalion had one mechanic per airplane. Now they will have two mechanics per aircraft."

Guard officials, however, worry that the funding that originally had been allocated for equipment upgrades will diverted to overseas operations and the war on terrorism. Transformation funding in 2002 was supposed to be $85.6 million, of which the Army and the Army National Guard received $60 million The remaining $20.5 million has been rolled over into a $105 million unfunded requirements for 2003.

Guard modernization priorities are competing with many other unfunded...