Combat aviation unit deactivated at Fort Campbell

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A 2,400-soldier combat aviation unit that recently returned from a deployment to Afghanistan will be deactivated at Fort Campbell and its members sent elsewhere, the Army announced Thursday, as overseas wars wind down and the military continues to reorganize and downsize.

Army spokesman Matthew Bourke said the 159th Combat Aviation Brigade is the only deactivation being announced Thursday.

Army spokesman Lt. Col Donald Peters told The Associated Press the decision stemmed from "the need to organize aviation assets to best support operational requirements under significant fiscal constraints."

The unit’s shutdown will leave the military post on the Kentucky-Tennessee state line with a total population of 26,500 soldiers by the end of Fiscal Year 2015 next October.

Most of the soldiers in the brigade will be reassigned to new units, some within the 101st Airborne Division.

Peters said the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, also stationed at Fort Campbell, will continue to support operational and training requirements of the 101st Airborne Division and its subordinate units.

The inactivation is the latest in a series of cuts the Army is making as it draws down toward a strength of 490,000. So far, the Army has announced 13 brigade combat team inactivations and a massive restructuring of its remaining brigade combat teams. More cuts could follow if the Army has to shrink even further because of budget cuts

The reduction comes about a year after two paratrooper units with long histories of combat duty — formally known as the 5th Battalion, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division and the 508th Infantry Regiment — were taken off of active jump status. That change also stemmed from the Army’s reconfiguration and budget cutting. Among the changes being made is a reduction in the number of parachute positions across the service.

In a joint statement, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, Sen. Rand Paul and U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield expressed disappointment over the decision to remove the unit from Fort Campbell.

"Our military’s readiness and national security must remain the highest priority for the American people, and for Fort Campbell’s troops and families in the great Commonwealth of Kentucky," the three Republicans said. "We believe that cuts need to be made in places other than deployable troops as a means to make smart cuts to government spending."

The brigade deployed for about a year and provided air assaults, air movements, reconnaissance, security, close combat attack and Pathfinder missions in Afghanistan.

The 159th CAB also mentored Afghan National Security Forces during the deployment.

The Army is trying to reduce to a mandated maximum of 49,000 paratrooper slots. Last year, 24 units accounting for 2,600 soldiers across the country were removed from jump status. That included 12 units with the 18th Airborne Corps and the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg, North Carolina., and the Company F (Pathfinder), 4th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 159th Aviation Brigade at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

The Army kept three standing pathfinder companies: Company F (Pathfinder), 5th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 101st Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault); and Company F (Pathfinder), 4th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 159th Aviation Brigade, both at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.; and Company F (Pathfinder), 2nd Battalion, 82d Aviation Regiment at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

The Pathfinder units are dropped into place in order to set up and operate drop zones, pickup zones, and helicopter landing sites for airborne operations, air resupply operations, or other air operations in support of the ground unit commander. They also handle rescues of downed pilots and helicopters.

______

Follow Associated Press reporter Brett Barrouquere on Twitter: http://twitter.com/BBarrouquereAP

©2014 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.