Did the Army Really Stop Training Helicopter Pilots to Fund the Israel-Taiwan-Ukraine Foreign Aid Bills?
streiff
The US Army Aviation Center of Excellence at Fort
Rucker Novosel, AL, may have had as much as $130 million of its $140 million training budget taken away, resulting in the cancellation of training for US helicopter pilots for the foreseeable future. Why did this happen? If the source is to be believed, and as I show later, there is no reason to doubt the source, DOD directed that training for Army helicopter pilots cease so the money could fill gaps in the recently passed Israel-Taiwan-Ukraine foreign aid package.
The story broke from two sources. On "X," formerly known as Twitter, a training team leader posted an email to his(?) team giving them the bad news.
Team,
BLUF (short for "bottom line up front"): Funds have been pulled from our flying Hour Program, we will be without funds to continue flying FSXXI as soon as 01May. Our funds have been pulled by DOD for allocation to Ukraine and other foreign obligations.An Instagram account, terminalcwo, has more details and some jargon translated. It obviously relies heavily on the original email, but the writer claims to have verified the story and developed some plan details from his own sources.
On May 1, USAACE will be without funds to continue Flight School XXI. The funds have been allocated to “Ukraine and other foreign obligations” according to official messaging. There is currently a plan of action at G3 Air that may delay this until May 15. There are exceptions to this:
- Graduate POl (i.e. D/1-14*h) will continue to fly.
- Flight School IERW FMS students will continue to fly. Their funding has been pre-paid by host countries.
- Students will continue to go through Academics at Merryman.
- LCT periods will continue.
While training has been discontinued, students will be required to continue reporting to the flight line for accountability. There will be no A940/ATP training flights. Dept of Army Civilians and contractors will continue to be paid without furlough.
It’s unknown how long training will be discontinued. The Army will likely move money around to continue training before the end of the fiscal year, but this is speculation. Several officials are also dismissing the significance of the school shutting down for new pilots due to the already high number of WO1s and LTs in the force.
The lack of funding follows on the heels of an unprecedented number of aviation mishaps in FY23. Defense News wrote, “Fiscal 2023 marked the highest death rate for Army soldiers since the U.S. withdrew from Iraq in 2011, with a total of 14 dead across 10 accidents, formally known as Class A mishaps, meaning accidents that result in the loss of life or the loss of equipment totaling more than $2.5 million.”more
https://redstate.com/streiff/2024/05/01/has-the-army-really-stop-training-helicopter-pilots-to-fund-the-israel-taiwan-ukraine-foreign-aid-bills-n2173626
