I served in the USAF as a ROMAD. Something directly related to CAS. I grew out of my blue uniform within a year and never wore it outside of basic training. Attached to the 82nd my squadron and my sister squadron spent 60% of our enlistment in the field with the grunts. Both squadrons completed at the very least Jump School at Ft. Benning and some went on to Air Assault School as well. It was not a pleasant 8 to 5 Air Force job.
The reason the Air Force doesn't completely let go of CAS and give it all to the Army is that the Air Force wants her assets on the ground as well. It's part of the whole SO scenerio. Cannon AFB is now entirely a SO air base and has a rather complex set of missions to perform. As intimated, all sister services have assets on the ground trained to coordinate CAS, whether the aircraft are Marine, Navy, Army, or Air Force. It doesn't matter. Maximum use of all assets available. The "S" in CAS stands for "support". The Air Force has no business reaching out beyond that with the Army's MLR, FEBA, or whatever you want to call it for CAS. The Air Force has her "Airplanes" to reach out and touch someone as far as she wants to reach for a variety of reasons to include paving a path for ground forces. This whole topic is a moot point. Sorry about that. Just how I feel about it. Some things never just go away.
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