Army Aviation faces funding, modernization challenges

The director of the G-3 Proponency office at the Army Aviation Center of Excellence and Fort Rucker told members of the Fort Rucker-Wiregrass Chapter of the Association of the United States Army Aug. 25 that the Army and Army Aviation is facing a lot of “significant challenges” from multiple angles.

Col. Geoff Crawford said that while a lot of issues facing the branch are the result of less funding, many problems are also based on the requirements being placed on the aviation soldiers. He said that the G-3 office, other staff and the commanding general,  Maj. Gen. William Gayler, are working daily to make sure “forces are trained and ready to execute operations and, secondly, that the modernization programs stay on track.

“As money is getting tighter, we have to be much more diligent in how we do things and make sure we are doing the right things for the right reasons. We make sure our soldiers are equipped with the best possible equipment.”

The G-3 office was set up by Lt. Gen. Michael Lundy while he was the commanding general at Fort Rucker. He was a major general at that time and established the office to deal with the Aviation Restructure Initiative—a plan to decrease the size of the aviation force while continuing to provide a capable, ready force.

G-3 Proponency provides direct assistance to the commanding general by developing, synchronizing, and distributing key elements of his vision and strategic objectives in order to successfully execute the Army Aviation Campaign Plan.

The quarterly general membership meeting was held at the First United Methodist Church in Ozark and hosted by the city of Ozark.

For more information on AUSA, visit www.ausawiregrass.org.