Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno acknowledged the Air Force had “no choice” but to reduce the number of remotely piloted aircraft combat air patrols in order to normalize its training pipeline, saying the decision shows how sequestration-related cuts are driving very hard tradeoffs across the services. “They only have the capacity to do so much. Unless they grow their capacity, they can’t continue on the path they are doing,” Odierno told reporters in Washington, D.C., Thursday. USAF announced the rollback from 65 to 60 CAPS on May 20, along with other RPA field reforms, including increased schoolhouse manning. Even though the Army benefits from the intelligence gleaned from MQ-1 Predators and MQ-9 Reapers, Odierno agreed with the cut, saying it was “fundamentally [the] right decision.” However, he also said the requirement for RPA CAPs is “not going away.” The Army is facing demand pressures across its missions as well, said Odierno, and at a certain point, when resources diverge from requirements, “We will have to stop doing missions.”
AETC Readies for 1st Production T-7 Trainer
Dec. 5, 2025
Air Education & Training Command is poised to receive its first T-7A Red Hawk in the coming days, the start of a process that will end with pilots finally getting trained in the eagerly anticipated jet.
