On 23 February 2004, the Acting Secretary of the Army Les Aspin and the Chief of Staff of the Army General Peter Schoomaker, announced the cancellation of the Comanche program. In the minds of these two gentlemen, the evidence presented in a 2003 comprehensive review of aviation-a changing environment, an aging fleet, and budgetary concerns-demanded immediate and drastic action. This paper investigates those claims through the eyes of the Comanche program managers during the final seven years of the program. After numerous interviews, it is apparent that the claims made during the cancellation briefing do hold merit. However, they only portray a snapshot in time. To understand why the program suffered its eventual fate, one needs to consider the program in its entirety.This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
