Man the Air Defences at Lejeune!
It's Air Force Doctrine to use all available force to destroy the enemy, so don't hold back, USMC. Ah, there's nothin' like a good ole' fight between the Grunts and the Flyboys (just how does the Navy usually manage to avoid these sorts of scraps? - oh yeah, they're already out to sea).
Good post Xenophon. Although I'm certain there will be those of the aerial persuasion who may take a rather dimmer view of this, I think that there is much merit to such an argument. Certainly the Army has been rather dissatisfied by the quality of CAS that the Air Force has provided over the last 60 years; on the other hand though, it would also have made sense for the Air Force to have had control of National and Theatre Air Defence rather than the Army.
I'm not completely persuaded that outright abolition of the Air Force is the right way to go, although short of substantial retasking and reorganization (such as the aforementioned changes above), reintegration of the Air Force back into the Army is an attractive idea. I doubt that it would be worth the effort, however.
Goes in cycles. From mid 1961 through 1965, the
entire Army was saying 'counterinsurgency' every time their left foot hit the ground. You wanted a new desk, the friendly 4 said no way. Just go back in with another requisition and say you needed it for 'counterinsurgency training' and it would appear in less than a week. That was gone by late '66 and the word virtually disappeared from the lexicon for 20 plus years.
We always over react; go too far one way, then bounce back too far the other. seems like equilibrium and balance are not Army Values.
The strategists and pundits don't help, they're always looking for the fad of the month. :(
This too will pass... ;)
Pretty soon the Air Force might need only ground crews...
And a few Internet addicts to remotely pilot their multi-gazillion dollar intercontinental strategic UAV doom doohickies. So, give it 20 or 30 years and somebody will stand up in the Senate and ask "Why are we paying for an Air Force that doesn't actually put combat pilots in the air anymore?" Then the fur will fly...:D