The Arizona National Guard’s top general is asking members of Congress to temporarily block the scheduled removal of Apache attack-helicopter training at the Silverbell Army Heliport near Marana.
Maj. Gen. Michael McGuire says the Army’s decision to eliminate some National Guard attack reconnaissance units flying AH-64 Apache helicopters “will have irreversible effects” on the service’s aviation capability.
McGuire expressed “great concern” about the situation in a letter to Sen. John McCain and other lawmakers who lead the House and Senate armed services committees.
McGuire’s letter says the affected Arizona unit’s aircraft are scheduled to be removed Friday under the Army’s decision. He asks that the lawmakers block transfers of the aircraft until delegation members have time to weigh in with top Army officials.
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The Army is moving to transfer most of the Guard’s Apaches to active-duty units.
The plan could cut hundreds of soldiers from the already diminished AH-64 Apache combat unit at Silverbell, which together with other units contributes an estimated $147.4 million annually to the local economy, according to a recent report.
After initially proposing to swap out all of the Guard Apaches for less-capable UH-60 Black Hawks, the Army is now planning to retain four Apache attack battalions in the Guard, with a decision on where those units will be based due from the Army chief of staff in the near future.
McGuire, who first outlined his concerns to the Star in November, has said he’s worried about the potential loss of the 400-member Apache combat unit at Silverbell, the 1st/285th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, and its impact on the region.
But McGuire said his main concern is that the Army’s plan to cut the number of Apache attack units in the Guard to just four battalions — with 18 aircraft each, compared with the normal complement of 24 — is “unsustainable” and will waste the skills of hundreds of trained aviators, maintainers and support personnel.
The Army initially had planned to transfer all 192 of the Army Guard’s Apaches to active-duty units, in exchange for Black Hawks, but Congress in 2015 required the service to study the issue further.
In January 2016, the Guard’s Apache units got a reprieve of sorts when the Commission on the Future of the Army recommended that the Army keep four battalions of 18 Apaches each in the Guard.
But with high demand, required maintenance rotations and the need for 24 Apaches for each deployed combat battalion — which will apparently require deployed units to borrow helicopters from nondeployed units — the Guard’s attack capabilities and readiness will quickly erode, McGuire said.
McGuire and local business leaders have been lobbying Sen. John McCain and the rest of the Arizona congressional delegation to save the Apaches at Silverbell.
Reporter David Wichner contributed to this story.
