AUGUSTA – While a parts shortage that has grounded more than half of the nation’s Army National Guard helicopters is being felt here in Maine, the effect is nowhere near as dire as it is proving to be in other states, Maine Army National Guard spokesmen said Friday.

The parts shortage primarily affects UH-1H Huey transport helicopters and the AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters, both of which were military staples during the Vietnam era, according to published reports. The Cobra is currently being phased out.

Nationally, the Army Guard’s helicopter fleet totals 1,885. Of those, 1,116, or 59 percent, are grounded due to safety concerns. The problem has been attributed to a lack of funding on the federal level.

The parts shortage reportedly has affected the Army National Guard to the point so many choppers have been grounded that pilots in some states are unable to put in the amount of flight time they need to maintain their flight and mission proficiency.

“Maine is probably one of the better-off states as far as UH-1H problems go,” Lt. Col. David Smith, aviation officer for the Maine Army National Guard Base in Bangor, said Friday.

Though six of the Maine Army National Guard’s 30 helicopters have been grounded for want of replacement parts, the Bangor-based troop command unit has so far managed to work around the problem.

According to Smith, the Maine Army Guard’s helicopter fleet is evenly divided between Hueys and Black Hawk helicopters, which are newer – built about two decades ago – and currently not affected by the shortages.

The shortages, he said, appear to have hit hardest those states which are completely or more dependent on the two affected helicopter models.

“For the most part, we’re doing fine as far as getting our flight time in,” Smith said. He said that the unit is making do with its remaining Hueys by scheduling training exercises in shifts, rather than as an entire unit, as is customary. The unit also has had to apply some Yankee ingenuity on the equipment maintenance side of its operation here.

The shortages, he said, involve gear assemblies, engines and main rotor masts and are not news to the Bangor-based unit which has been struggling to get parts for two years.

Smith said that parts for the grounded Hueys could become available by as early as this summer. “The bottom line,” Smith said, “is that it’ll get better.”

In addition to supporting various military missions in hot spots around the globe, the Maine Army Guard and its pilots are frequently called upon for medical evacuations on mountains, in ravines and in other remote locales not easily reached on the ground, added Maj. Eldon Hardwick, public affairs officer for the Maine Army Guard.

Most recently, the unit has assisted the Maine Forest Service by carrying large buckets of water to some of the numerous wildfires that have plagued Maine in recent weeks, Hardwick said.