(a) Limitation
None of the funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for any of fiscal years 2027 through 2031 for the Army may be obligated or expended to retire, deactivate, schedule to deactivate, or proceed with any other action that would reduce the capabilities, resources, training, aircraft, or personnel available, as of the date of the enactment of this Act, for the Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigades unless the Secretary of the Army submits to the congressional defense committees—
a certification that the Secretary of the Army plans to recapitalize any such aircraft for the Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigades and to otherwise restore any such capabilities, resources, training, or personnel levels reduced to the levels preceding such retirement, deactivation, or reduction;
the plan of the Secretary of the Army for the actions specified in paragraph (1); and
a report containing—
an assessment of any planned reduction of capability to Army aviation within the Army Reserve, including reductions by platform and end strength and all changes under the transformation initiative;
an assessment of the effect of such reduction on operational risk, readiness, and mission capability, taking into consideration the operational tempo and missions conducted by the Army during the five-year period preceding the date of the report;
an identification of any military construction projects delayed, modified, or canceled as a result of such reductions;
an assessment of the remaining Army Reserve rotary-wing and fixed-wing aviation capacity, by platform, relative to validated mission requirements.
the scale of the divestment of the Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigades as of the date of the enactment of this Act and the effect of such divestment on Army Reserve aviation capabilities, including the number of remaining rotary wing aircraft, by platform, required to meet mission requirements;
a detailed breakdown of options available to the members of the Armed Forces and civilian employees affected by such divestment of the Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigades to continue service in the Armed Forces or Department of Defense, as applicable, including an identification of the number of affected members and employees by specialty;
an evaluation of the effect on State and local communities of divesting the Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigades, including economic and workforce effects; and
a description of any strategic or scenario-based analysis or modeling used for making decisions to divest the Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigades.
(b) Requirement to restore
(1) Requirement
Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, for any Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade that, prior to such date of enactment, the Secretary of the Army retired or deactivated (or carried out any other activity to reduce the capabilities, resources, requisite individual or unit proficiency or qualification training, aircraft, or personnel thereof), the Secretary of the Army shall reinstate or reactivate such brigade, or otherwise restore such brigade to the levels preceding such reduction, as the case may be.
(2) Report
Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Army shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on the implementation of this subsection.
(c) Plan required
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Army shall submit to the congressional defense committees a plan to sustain and modernize the aircraft, readiness generation capacity, maintenance infrastructure, and requisite individual and unit training associated with the Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigades.