On the recordJuly 14, 2015
I appreciate the gentlewoman and just her shared concern here that we have for our men and women in uniform, for Army aviators, and for their families as well. If the sequester goes into full effect not only when we are cutting from 12 CABs now--combat aviation brigades--to 10, there is a potential that we could have to go to 9. What that means directly for Rucker is that we will decrease our student load, the number of Army aviation pilots that we are training. What that means for our country is that we are no longer ready. I mean, you could make the argument that that, in fact, is the case now. They are going to do everything we ask them to do with what they have. We know that about the United States military, the best in the world. Yet, we are spreading them more and more thin. We are fighting an enemy overseas right now. Whether you want to call it ``war'' or not, it is happening, and our men and women are in harm's way. There are boots on the ground, and if these cuts move forward, they are going to suffer more. I appreciate the gentlewoman for drawing attention to Rucker, and I know that she feels as passionately as I about the military.
