Easy there buddy... Actually the USAF is paying in blood; I went to the memorial for the F-16 guy who died while strafing to save Army guys in Iraq a ways back. His wife and kids seemed to think he paid a high price, his wife looked like she was about to fall over while walking out of the memorial. Believe it or not we’re on the same team, although unfortunately the Infantry is paying the high price now. Trust me, I know that from first hand experience, and it is profoundly sad.
I wouldn’t even consider telling the Army Infantry guys how to run their programs. I would hope you would respect our 40 plus years of keeping US Forces free from air attack, while also doing a pretty good job of beating down forces before the ground guys get there. The Gulf War was a pretty good example of that. The point of the story above is we’re gutting our tactical air forces, we don’t have a plan in place to replace our equipment, and we may not be able to guarantee freedom from air attack in the future. I am not a big fan of the F-22, but I am less of fan of having not enough fighters to take on China or Iran if needed. Take a look at Jane’s Defence if you want to see how good they are getting and what type of equipment they are producing. It is good stuff and they have lots of it. And its all for sale too.
And by the way, the A-10A has been funded (for the most part) for the A-10C upgrade, and should be around for a looong time. Pray there are no SA-6/11s around if they do fly in future conflicts.
I know we’re on the same team, so please forgive my frustration. I’m an 8 year infantry vet. I’ve lost 15 friends in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It’s frustrating. The USAF has never particularly liked the CAS role, and the Infantry always ends up paying the price. How many times has the USAF tried to can the A-10, the Infantry’s best friend? The Army literally begged the USAF for more UAVs, to no avail.
The previous poster was right - the fighter mafia had their chance and they blew it.
Maybe it’s time to move all CAS to the Army and let the USAF do their on thing.