Now that is an interesting point
Knew one of each. Son in law A10 father in law tgat was how they were related to each other Both gone. Wonder how they’d have talked about it
AF knows now grunts. Not personally.
Father in law marine fighter pilot
Later on when flying helos, I still recall being scared shiiteless thinking an A-4 pilot was going to pancake in he pulled out so low on a bomb run. The bottom of his pullout could not have been more than a couple hundred feet above ground.
“AF knows now grunts. Not personally.”
That is a load of BS. The U.S. Army Air Forces adopted the British practice of using forward air controllers during the WWII invasion at Salerno. Gen. Patton went on to have his Third Army perfect the CAS mission with the USAAF Ninth Tactical Air Force after D-Day. The built upon the concept in Korea and Vietnam. See for example:
In 1967, a group of combat-experienced fighter pilot volunteers were brought together in South Viet Nam to form a top secret squadron with a now-famous callsign — MISTY. They were stationed first at Phu Cat Air Base, then in 1969, they moved to Tuy Hoa Air Base. Their mission was to fly fast and low over enemy territory, armed with only their cannons and marking rockets... so low that they could see the targets... SAMs, AAA sites, trucks, bridges, boats, bulldozers... whatever. Their goal was straightforward: disrupt the transfer of enemy supplies and equipment down the Ho Chi Minh trail. When a Misty located one or more of these targets, he directed Air Force and Navy fighter strikes against them. Mistys flew the two-seat version of the Super Sabre, the F-100F, and although they flew fast (350 to 550 MPH), and they continually jinked (i.e., changed direction) to spoil the enemy’s prediction of where to aim, still, 28% of the Misty pilots were shot down during the three years they were active. Their first commander, Colonel Bud Day, was one of those shot down, and he became a POW in the Hanoi Hilton. Those who survived went on to important positions, including two Air Force Chiefs of Staff, seven general officers, two astronauts, numerous industry CEOs, and the first man to fly around the world unrefueled in a light aircraft.
http://www.mistyvietnam.com/
Play close attention to those Misty casualties and then bad mouth those Air Force pilots.
It won’t do you any good to try and claim things are all different now, because they are not. Just look at the histories of the Air Force TASS squadrons. Try handing out over enemy territory in a low and slow flying Air Force Cessna on a FAC (Forward Air Controller) mission.
Also don’t forget that Air Force FACs and combat air weathermen travel wherever the Army goes on the ground and in the air. Do not disregard how many of the SOF missions behind enemy lines is to provide the security for Air Force FACs and/or combat air weathermen. Whenever and wherever the XVIII Abn Corps, 82nd Abn, and 101st Abn go, the Air Force FACs and air weathermen go with them, including Air Force pilots performing the FAC assignment.
The problem here is with the Congress not appropriating the funding necessary for the Army, Navy, and Air Force to keep all of the combat branches adequately funded.
Hate to break it to you but I can tell you from my 26 years in the USAF and never being assigned to an Air Force Base that I personally know quite a few “grunts” Army and Marine, US and Allied. I was a USAF JTAC; Ft. Benning, Camp Howze, Ft.Carson, Rose Barracks, Ft. Hood, Camp Casey, Ft.Hood. Six tours in the sandbox and plenty of Govt sponsored trips to other prime “vacation” spots. 18 NTC rotations. CAS was my business. On the ground with the troops, in the fight. This silly business of the AF not supporting CAS is crap. CAS is a very important mission of all branches. I have personally controlled AF, Army, Navy, Marine and foreign aircraft in the same engagement. The Air Force has had Air Liaison and other mission specific personnel with the ground combat forces since it’s inception. The battlefield is a JOINT mission, and for success all combat multipliers need to be utilized.
Also see:
Yet the innovative tactics developed by the Mistys for their visual reconnaissance, strike control, and search-and-rescue missions formed the foundation for FAC operations later employed during Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts—and remain valid today.
http://www.themistyexperiment.com/
and
TACP (JTAC) Overview
Advise, Assist, Control
A TACP is a Tactical Air Control Party. It is comprised of a JTAC (Joint Terminal Air Controller) and a ROMAD (essentially a JTAC in training, though the reality is ROMADs are frequently seasoned operators in their own right, having completed lengthy and arduous blocks of training and lacking only the final JTAC certification). JTACs direct the action of combat aircraft operating in CAS (Close Air Support) and other offensive operations, calling in airstrikes and gun runs like an FO or an ANGLICO Marine calls in artillery or naval gunfire. The NATO is Forward Air Controller. A typical TACP (JTAC or ROMAD or both) might be on an infantry patrol one day to coordinate immediate CAS and attached to an ODA the next day for the same reason.
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TACP personnel are usually collocated with the unit they are supporting, so for instance you might find 2 Airmen bunked down at a COP with a particular platoon or perhaps company sized element, and those Airmen may only rarely encounter anyone else from their “own” unit during the deployment.
Step by step: TACP family traces fallen brother’s final path, ‘Finish strong’
By Airman 1st Class Zachary Vucic, Air Force News Service / Published August 09, 2013
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TACPs primarily act as a vital link between ground forces and the aircraft that support them. They put themselves in harm’s way to ensure bombs are on target. Gray’s choice to rejoin the career field and participate in the rigorous training again at age 37 was “a hard sell” to his wife she said.
“He just kept saying ‘You don’t understand, it’s so different; it’s what I’m meant to do,’” Heather said. “(He said) ‘This is why I joined the Air Force.’”
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