SECDEF: More Army helos & pilots

On June 16, the U.S. House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee held a budget hearing with Defense Secretary James Mattis and Chairman of the Joint chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford. Alabama Rep. Martha Roby wanted to talk about Army Aviation and Fort Rucker, and the “significant shortage” of Apache helicopters, underfunding of Light Utility helicopters, and that the military not training enough pilots. SECDEF Mattis agreed that there was a serious pilot shortage and called it a “national-level problem” that needs to be addressed, according to her online post. Fort Rucker trains all Army and Air Force rotary wing pilots. “A renewed focus from the Pentagon on developing more helicopter pilots would potentially benefit the post’s mission,” said Roby and further stating that Mattis “assured me” that the new military budget allocates more than $3 billion for Army Aviation, including Blackhawks, Apaches, Chinooks, and Lakotas that are all part of the training apparatus at Fort Rucker. (Source: Alabama Today 06/17/17) Gulf Coast Note: Lakota helicopters are built by Airbus Helicopters Inc. at Columbus, Miss.