Army cuts ROTC helicopter training at UND
January 27, 2012 at 11:35 am in Grand Forks Herald
The U.S. Army will end the helicopter training UND has provided for ROTC cadets since the 1980s, it announced Friday. A statement released by the Army’s Cadet Command said it no longer had the money for the training. Continue Reading
Ouch. $1.4 million a year is a big hit. It was a great program that took some of the heat off of the regular Army’s training resources. No money is no money. I understand that. It is just weird that 2 years ago they were talking about expanding the program because the Army did not have enough pilots to fulfill its mission.
I will chalk this up to the members of congress shooting the armed services in the foot when they did not pass a budget and ended up with mandatory cuts. Hopefully people remember this come election day.
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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So true Kyle term limits sound good to the ear’s of the voters, but in reality the effect of term limits have some very bad side effects. Term limits are not a resolution to our corrupted political arena.
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I agree HOW I CIT. Real reform means campaign finance reform (this is one area John McCain and I are in complete agreement). Unfortunately the SCOTUS has said money is protected speech. I believe just like Dred Scott, this too will be overturned, I just hope it does not take a Civil War to do it.
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Normal type of thing to have happen as the military scales back after wars. There is a gearing up as the military moves to action and then a pull back. There was a shortage of pilots a few years ago, now there is actually a surplus.
For a period of time now, ROTC graduates in general will get commissions that basically tell them they have 4 to 10 years to find something else to do other than the Army. On it’s end, the Army is going to pull back from training officers it doesn’t really need at this time.
All that can and probably will change.
I don’t really know why the threat of remember at election time. You’d think the writer is disappointed that we are cutting back on our armed conflicts. Something we just can’t afford.
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Mary,
I am not regretting the draw down (I am on record decrying Iraw and Afghanistan). I am saying remember the inability of congress to do its job (get a budget) at election time.
If I don’t do my job, my boss fires me. I think it is time that the public remembers we are the boss and fire a few people.
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Looks like CAS is going to have to up the cost of flying lessons again.
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I would rather see the Government cut entitlement and save the Helicopter training program.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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The Government giveth and the Government taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Government.
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Eric: Entitlement means social security and medicare. I agree they need changed or we won’t survive as a nation. The problem is anytime a politician brings this up, they are summarily executed in the most public manner possible. That will have to change.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Why do we need a ROTC flying program anyways?
By time the cadets graduate and get to actually join the Army their wont be any slots for them anyways.
Am I the only one who is reading the news?
Obama is cutting our military to the bone.
We wont even be able to keep the pilots we have now, let alone another large influx in waiting.
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Capt: it’s not the Big O. It is a congress unable to do its job ( pass a budget). These cuts are just a down payment on the mandatory cuts brought about by an inept legislative branch.
If you think people are whining now, just wait until the cuts in Medicare & Social Security start. You do not think there is enough ancillary spending to absorb the mandatory cuts without affecting Medicare & Social Security do you?
The trouble with the American public is they are rarely interested in the big picture’ just their piece of the pie. The dollar amounts we are talking about are so large that everyone’s piece is going to get considerably smaller.
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Maybe loss of the helicopters will help in the BRAC process, Grand Forks can claim that they already lost something.
Anyway, apparently next up is Iran, and us older types already know that the helicopters don’t work in Iran.
On the other hand, I hope the Army has some new pilots coming in or in 10 years when all the current ones retire there will be a mad scramble to get a whole slew of new ones.
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In 10 years we’re not going to need pilots, just operators sitting in trailers. Brush up on your flight sim skills now.
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I copied this from anothter blogger, it truly puts our spending and debt crisis in perspective. I will be posting this on every thread that speaks of any cuts.
The U.S. budget explained in simple English:
U.S. Tax Revenue $ 2,170,000,000,000
Federal Budget $ 3,820,000,000,000
New Debt $ 1,650,000,000,000
Existing National Debt $ 14,271,000,000,000
Recent Budget Cut $ 38,500,000,000
Now, remove 8 zeros and pretend it’s a family’s budget:
Annual family income $ 21,700
Money the family spent $ 38,200
New debt on credit card $ 16,500
Existing balance on credit card $ 142,710
Total budget cuts which some politicians are proud of $ 385
The time for dramatic cuts is long past due.
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I don’t vouch for the veracity of the numbers but I wholeheartedly support the sentiment.
If anyone is truly serious about addressing this problem, the have to first address Medicare & Social Security. There is no other way
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FN those figures are for 2011. After a quick research of the numbers I posted, I feel fairly confident in the accuracy. The Washington Post had very similar figures, with the only discrepancy being the U.S. Tax Revenue ($2.57 T) and New Debt ($1.27 T). Keep in mind those numbers are often revised. I think we are in the ball park here.
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More frightening than any horror film Hollywood could come up with. Thanks for posting.
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Very good way to view it.
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