Editor’s note: This article first appeared on The War Horse , an award-winning nonprofit news organization educating the public on military service. Subscribe to their newsletter .

For many Americans, the U.S. Army is nearly synonymous with its helicopters. Think of popular films such as Black Hawk Down , We Were Soldiers , and Apocalypse Now .

But in recent months, the service announced a plan to pare down its helicopter fleet, catching many of its aviators off guard.

The cuts are part of a larger reorganization as the Army prepares for the changing landscape of warfare with one of the services’ smallest budget increases . The War Horse spoke with Jeremiah Gertler, senior analyst at the Teal Group defense and aerospace consulting company, to better understand

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