Abolish the Air Force

[Rob Thornton]

One thing worth doing is to consider why something is (or is not) before passing judgment on why it should or should not be - the world changed, and we created the USAF, I'm not sure the rational for creating it as an independent service has gone away. While I've always admired the ACE and the support it provides the GCE, the Army's requirements and capabilities have led it down a different road. We've gotten pretty good at working with the AF to meet our needs across the spectrum of conflict while not having to worry about the overhead that would go with maintaining the USAF. The USAF has such a distinct role within our military that to subordinate it to another service would probably diminish its capabilities to fulfill that role. As has been pointed out, we assume air superiority, and have not had to live without it for the last few generations - but we'd sure notice it if it were gone. While we've had to be creative in some areas we've managed to make up for any shortfalls in CAS (and on average I think its there when we need it) like fire support by capabilities such as GMLRS and improvements in cannon and mortars - not to mention RW CAS from 58s and 64s. I'm not sure we'd have ever gotten to those capabilities required to project and sustain combat power in both the strategic and operational sense that we enjoy to great extent through the AF if it had remained a subordinate service.

It comes back to having to operate across the full spectrum and against a wide variety of enemies across the globe at the most inopportune times.

Best regards, Rob

[Rob Thornton]

A friend of mine in the Navy with a bit of whimsy said that the Army should become subordinate to the Air Force the same way that the Marine Corps is subordinate to the Navy. He felt the Air Force was getting the better deal.

Interesting culture piece there Sam - the Marines will be quick to point out there is a difference between the Navy as in the "Department of the Navy", and the Navy as in the Service - so whereas the two services fall under the same department in the DoD - as a service the Marines see the services as having parity in status - even if the Navy retains the larger budget and the sailors don't make the distinction. It may seem like a subtle nuance from the outside, but perspective matters

Best, Rob

[selil]

Interesting culture piece there Sam - the Marines will be quick to point out there is a difference between the Navy as in the "Department of the Navy", and the Navy as in the Service - so whereas the two services fall under the same department in the DoD - as a service the Marines see the services as having parity in status - even if the Navy retains the larger budget and the sailors don't make the distinction. It may seem like a subtle nuance from the outside, but perspective matters

As a former Marine (e4) I told the Captain (o6) that both the Navy and the Air Force were great Taxi services as long as you gave directions really slow and loud.

Oh and the Navy has good cooks.

[Rob Thornton]

Oh and the Navy has good cooks.

- If I recall the CPO's mess was the better of the bunch - which is how as a young Marine long ago going through the SFCP (NGF spotter course) at Coronado, CA - I learned to distinguish chiefs from officers at a distance.
Best, Rob

[Rifleman]

I've said this before, I'll say it again. The Air Force has been going down hill since they retired the A-1 Skyraider, which was waaaay sexier than that joint strike whatever it is!