Rep. McSally laments closure of National Guard Apache battalions

Army Secretary Mark Esper’s decision to dismantle the 1-285th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion (ARB) in Marana, Arizona, met resistance from U.S. Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) on Tuesday.

McSally, the former commander of the 354th Fighter Squadron at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, voiced her opposition during a House Armed Services Committee hearing on military funding in the president’s fiscal year 2019 budget request on Tuesday.

“I want to note for the record that I remain strongly opposed to the Army’s decision to close down Apache battalions in the National Guard while at the same time growing attack aviation battalions from scratch in the active duty force,” McSally said. “As I have said many times, this wastes millions of dollars and thousands of years of specialized experience invested in hundreds of pilots and maintainers.”

McSally previously pushed back on the decision to shutter the 1-285th Attack ARB, which flies the AH-64 Apache, in talks with Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan. She has argued that the closures are necessary after Congress approved the largest increase in defense funding in years.

“We went to the mat to fight for more resources for our military over these last months, and the very week the budget deal was signed into law, a combat-ready unit in Arizona was told to transfer its Apaches and shut down, and a PA company will come home from deployment and lower their flag,” McSally said.