A proposal by the National Commission on the Future of the Army to retain 72 Apache attack helicopters in the National Guard is estimated to cost $2.4 billion and threatens to throw the service back to the very same budget problems it was trying to fix with its Aviation Restructure Initiative, a key service official said. At issue is a recommendation by the congressionally chartered panel to keep four battalions of the gunships in the Guard, with 19 helicopters each...
