The Defense Department rolled out its new budget request Feb. 9. Here's what soldiers need to know about what the Army is looking for in fiscal 2017.

Personnel

The Army will continue the troop draw down it's been executing since 2012. In 2017, the budget request pays for an end-strength of 460,000 in the active Army, 335,000 in the Army National Guard, and 195,000 in the Army Reserve.

This reflects a cut of 15,000 soldiers in the active component, 7,000 in the Guard, and 3,000 in the Reserve between 2016 and 2017.

Training

The Army is planning for 19 combat training center rotations in 2017. That's two more than what's scheduled in 2016. At least two of the 2017 rotations will center on an Army National Guard brigade combat team; the goal is to have four Guard rotations in 2018.

"Since 9/11, our training centers have really been our rehearsal sites," said Maj. Gen. Walter Piatt, director of operations, readiness and mobilization in the Army G-3 (operations). "This is part of our readiness build."

Readiness is "consumable" and "cumulative," said Maj. Gen. Thomas Horlander, director of the Army Budget.

"If we see oscillating funding levels and we don't have a consistent, predictable funding level year to year, it manifests itself in oscillating readiness levels," he said.

AH-64 Apaches assigned to the 1-130 Attack Recon Battalion, North Carolina Army National Guard, based at the Raleigh-Durham International Airport, train at Poinsett Electronic Combat Range, Sumter, S.C., Nov. 13, 2014. The Apaches trained at Poinsett to test their electronic warfare systems. Personnel assigned to the electronic warfare department shoot simulated munitions at aircraft, helping pilots safely train for combat situations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Diana M. Cossaboom/Released)

The Army will buy fewer upgraded Apaches this year.

Photo Credit: Airman 1st Class Diana M. Cossaboom/Air Force

Equipment

The Army will buy fewer helicopters in 2017. The budget request calls for 36 UH-60M Black Hawks, compared with 107 in 2016. It also will buy 48 remanufactured AH-64E Apache helicopters, down from 64 in 2016, and 22 CH-47F Chinooks, down from 39 in 2016.

"The aviation portfolio is still 25 percent of our total portfolio," Horlander said.

The smaller buys in 2017 merely signal a different timeline, not a change in priorities, said Maj. Gen. Neil Thurgood, deputy for acquisition and systems management in the office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology.

Europe rotations

The Army's armored brigade combat teams will soon begin back-to-back rotations into Europe as the 2017 budget quadruples the funding for the European Reassurance Initiative. The Pentagon plans to spend $3.4 billion — four times more than the previous year — to deter Russian aggression and reassure its NATO allies.

The money also pays for more Guard and Reserve rotations into Europe for exercises and training, and additional equipment, including tanks and Bradleys, to be prepositioned in the region.

About Michelle Tan

Michelle Tan is the editor of Army Times and Air Force Times. She has covered the military for Military Times since 2005, and has embedded with U.S. troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Haiti, Gabon and the Horn of Africa.

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