They could still put recruits through P Company and jump school, get their wings then not do any Battalion jumps for the period. Still, these costs saving measures are proposed by people who were never there, never could have made it and wouldn;t have been wanted anyway.
I was saddened when I heard how the US Army Ranger units were losing their Black Beret. I actually telephoned a Ranger who was marching to Washington DC to hand over his Beret in protest (cell phone number given on the forum etc). He was pretty stunned to get a call from a bloke in Australia, especially one who told him "Ranger! Lead the way!" I couldn;t afford much more phone time back then but I felt for him and his comrades. Didn;t matter though. By the way, when that PC3 Orion was forced down in China there was concern it might delay the delivery of those black berets (lower case intentional). You did know they were all made in China, right?
Cheers Redcap
