My organization has a substantial role in the transformation. I am assigned to an aviation training support battalion (TSBn) responsible for 92 aviation units throughout the 21 states within the Fifth Army area of responsibility. The TSBn is comprised of 34 senior officers, warrant officers, and non-commissioned officers. We provide training support, readiness assessment, and mobilization assistance to client units.
Army aviation is currently undergoing its most comprehensive transformation and modernization in decades. This Interim Transformation will continue through fiscal year 2007. Under the transformation plan, the total number of aircraft will be reduced in excess of 400 in the active component (AC) and 600 in the reserve component (RC). Aviation will see a force-wide reduction in personnel of two percent with 26 MTOE aviation companies being deactivated. The plan calls for the modernization of RC aviation initially with the transfer of 240 aircraft from the AC followed by additional aircraft purchases. Legacy aircraft such as the UH-1 and AH-1 will be divested from the force at an accelerated pace. In addition, RC aviation will participate in the recapitalization of the aviation fleet, further improving the modernization and capabilities. All of this will occur while units realign under new headquarters, transfer to new states within the National Guard structure, and receive new wartrace alignments and missions.
During this transformation process, we must sustain the proficiency and readiness of legacy force units to minimize the impact of transformation. Simultaneously, we must strive to gain maximum efficiency in our efforts to transform units and bring them to a high state of training proficiency and readiness. The number of force support package and AC associated units continues to increase as well as the mobilization and deployment of RC forces. It is our mission to ensure client units conduct quality training during their transformation efforts.
