The Army Reserve expects to divest all of its helicopters and associated units over the next year, including a brigade headquarters and one of its companies in Colorado Springs.
Fort Carson-based Col. Adam Stanley, commander of the 11th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade, said the inactivation of two brigades is a reflection of the hard decisions that had to be made as the Army prepares for a potential conflict with China and modernizes for wars that will be highly reliant on drones.
The cuts will also result in a loss of 90% of the air power in the Army Reserve, leaving only two Army Reserve battalions that maintain C-12s and UC-35s, he said. The Army Reserve’s fleet included 230 aircraft including mostly Blackhawk and Chinook helicopters…