82nd Combat Aviation Brigade Kiowa squadron will be the last in the Army

[unhappycamper]

http://www.fayobserver.com/news/local/nd-combat-aviation-brigade-kiowa-squadron-will-be-the-last/article_6e4f44a3-3bfc-5870-a31a-9931aab32e29.html



82nd Combat Aviation Brigade Kiowa squadron will be the last in the Army
By Drew Brooks Military editor
Posted: Tuesday, September 2, 2014 12:00 am | Updated: 9:08 am, Tue Sep 2, 2014.

Fort Bragg's Kiowa helicopters will be the last in the Army.

Col. Michael Musiol, commander of the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, said the OH-58s assigned to the brigade's 1st Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment would remain in service for at least two more years.

The squadron will be the last Kiowa unit to inactivate under an Army plan that eliminates the small helicopters known for providing close support to ground troops. The squadron is set to be inactivated in 2017 or 2018, Musiol said.

The delay, in part, is so the Army can develop a "bridging strategy" to replace the capabilities the Kiowa provide the Global Response Force. The 82nd Airborne Division is the best-known part of that force, which has a mission to deploy on short notice anywhere in the world for combat or humanitarian operations.

[davepc]

1. Are they replacing them with the UH-72As or something else?

[unhappycamper]

2. I have no clue.

Perhaps they are responding to sequestration?

[catnhatnh]

3. 45 years old....

In 1972 they were the new kid on the block when I was stationed at Butts Army airfield at Ft Carson Co. The Kiowa was replacing the OH 6 Loaches which we still had several of on the field. Older UH 1B and D models were being replaced by the newer larger H models. You gotta remember it was all a lifetime ago...the deadly Cobra gunships are gone and soon I expect even the Y model Hueys... Once shining and cutting edge technology and now as ancient as the Fokkers and Spads I read of as a child.