The Army National Guard has crafted a plan that will inactivate two attack reconnaissance battalions, as prescribed by a set of controversial Army aviation reforms, but spread certain unit elements across several states, InsideDefense.com has learned.
Reserves
March 31, 2015
NASHVILLE, TN -- Top Army leaders this week pressed for implementation of the controversial Aviation Restructure Initiative, claiming the service's active and reserve components must put emotion and politics aside and "think about what's best."
March 31, 2015
The Army's unfunded priorities next year include buying back shortfalls the service sees in readiness, sustainment and installations, while boosting key modernization efforts like network infrastructure, improved missile interceptors and helicopter survivability.
March 31, 2015
The Air Force's $5.5 billion unfunded priorities list for fiscal year 2016 includes money for legacy aircraft upgrades and to retain force structure, but Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh has cautioned lawmakers not to pursue the requests at the expense of other service priorities.
March 17, 2015
The head of the Air National Guard said this week he is confident the Air Force will follow through on its plan to assign "an appropriate percentage" of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft to Guard units.
March 4, 2015
The Air Force released a report on March 4 that concurs at least partially with all but one recommendation put forth last year by the National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force: the commission's call to disestablish Air Force Reserve Command.
February 27, 2015
The Army National Guard will activate three cyber protection teams in fiscal year 2016, with a total of 10 such formations set to come online over the next three years, the Guard announced last week.
February 27, 2015
The Army strives to preserve the historically high readiness level of its reserve formations even as the service prepares for the possibility of reduced defense spending, according to Army Secretary John McHugh.
February 2, 2015
The Army's plan to reduce the pace by which it sheds soldiers is driven by fears that too few forces would be able to respond to global crises and by hopes that savings can be found elsewhere during the next few years, officials said.
February 2, 2015
The Navy's fixed-wing aircraft, including the controversial Joint Strike Fighter, and several tactical missile programs took a hit in the service's fiscal year 2016 budget request, while shipbuilding and rotary-wing aircraft prevailed, the service announced on Monday.
January 29, 2015
Draft details of the fiscal year 2016 defense budget submission that have begun surfacing show which acquisition programs stand to gain most from the Pentagon's $585 billion request, which ignores the automatic cuts set to be triggered by sequestration, according to a draft briefing from the Defense Department comptroller's office.
January 21, 2015
The Defense Department aims to complete its final guidance by the spring for a program that links U.S. state national guards with partner nations to achieve security objectives, according to a recent memo and a defense official.
January 15, 2015
The Air National Guard and Reserve will step up its contribution to the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper force under a new plan to ease the "significant stress from the unrelenting pace of operations," Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James announced this week.
December 19, 2014
As the Air Force begins to assess the language in the still-pending fiscal year 2015 defense policy bill, it is looking closely at provisions related to legacy C-130 aircraft upgrades so that it can work to make the platform compliant with changing Federal Aviation Administration requirements, according to the director of the Air National Guard.
December 19, 2014
While AH-64 Apache aircraft transfers are not on the table for fiscal year 2015 as part of the Army's aviation restructure initiative, they will begin immediately once FY-16 starts on Oct. 1, 2015, according to a key service official.
December 18, 2014
The National Guard Association of the United States expects the Air Force will put the A-10 retirement and C-130 fleet reductions back on the agenda for fiscal year 2016, although those force adjustments will probably be more conciliatory and include sweeteners for the Reserve Component, including the possibility of more C-17 cargo aircraft.
December 12, 2014
A Pentagon advisory panel is set to review the assumptions guiding force-structure decisions by the services, with a focus on how the reserve component is used by military leaders.
December 12, 2014
Congressional Research Service analysts believe lawmakers could use additional data before delving into the thorny field of evaluating a new force mix for the Army.
December 12, 2014
A top Army general says industry should focus its developments in training and simulation technology on the reserves as well as the active component, arguing for a total force approach to battle preparation.
December 5, 2014
Lawmakers concerned about a lack of military plans for using reserves forces in cyber operations are asking for a report from the Army outlining the rationale behind the National Guard's so-called cyber protection teams.