Quote Originally Posted by TROUFION View Post
I was listening to a NPR report yesterday of Airmen training in infantry squad tactics at McQuire AFB NJ. The commentator made an interesting final comment: paraphrased-the pentagon sees 350k airmen as a pool of trained personel in uniform capable of supplementing the ground forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The commentator had no military background, he was stating what appeared to be an obvious conclusion. I see articles like the one by MGen Dunlap as a direct reaction to this type of thought in the general US (and particularly Congress) population. It is an unfortunate byproduct of the war that the AF is relegated to a supporting role. The USAF is great, they can destroy just about anything anywhere and they want the lead in all things warlike and budgetary. But you can't shake hands and drink chai with a Mayor or Sheik from 30k ft. Maybe you could air deliver a VTC set and a generator, it could even be self deploying and unmanned, if done right it could have an automatic coffee maker and cigarette dispenser until then ya gotta be proud to support the guy on the ground in Small Wars. -T

I've actually thought that, at least as an interim solution, the Army could "draft" folks who had enlisted in the AF. But I don't mean having USAF folks TAD to the Army, I mean make them soldiers. They signed up, after all, and there is an element of "you'll go where we need you" included in that. They're taking individual augments from the Navy and putting them on the ground in a number of functions.

It's crazy -- back in the summer of 01 they thought they were going to own the world. The opening phase of OEF was a tease, but Tora Bora was the first nail in the coffin. Even "shock and awe" was... not. Another Marine (then LtCol Phillip Ridderhof) wrote this piece, which was quite good.

http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrow...5Usw&user=&pw=

It's been downhill ever since.