[Marine_Uncle]

RE: "It really doesn’t make any difference how close or far away our assets are from a firefight if no one gives them an order to act."

Agree in full. I think if this had happened say under the prior administration, we would at least had rotary assets from say Malta fields scrambled and on site within an hour and a half. Which could have made a big difference based on the time line we are seeing.
This administration royally screwed the pooch on a number of things to say the least. Hopefully by the end of Issa's investigation, we shall see some bi-partisan efforts to see who's heads should roll.

[TigersEye]

When you’re in command of something (sheriff’s dept, Marine division, head of your household) and you get a call from one of your own (deputy, squadron leader, daughter) that you are being killed don’t you respond with everything you’ve got even if you know it’s hopeless to get there in time?