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Interesting article from a liberal magazine (though the author, a professor at the University of Kentucky, has also made this argument in conservative circles as well). Though I don't necessarily want to see USAF abolished wholesale, I think we'd be better served if the Department of the Air Force was abolished and USAF was tied to the hip of the Army in the same manner that the Marine Corps is part of a sharply focused seapower force with the Navy, and subordinate to it. To a man, my Army friends, past and present, think USAF does a lousy job of air support in ground combat situations because they think the mission isn't sexy enough.
1 posted on 11/02/2007 1:36:50 PM PDT by DesScorp
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To: DesScorp

Many caddies will be out of work. Don’t want that, do we?


26 posted on 11/02/2007 1:52:17 PM PDT by dakine
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To: DesScorp
I agree.

Let's turn the Air Force back into the Army Air Corps.

And rename the Marines. Every other country calls their version of the Marine Corps the Naval Infantry. Then the Marines can be folded back into the Navy.

And then we can get rid of this Department of Defense silliness. No "Defense Department" ever won a war.

Time for it to be the War Department again.

Now I just have to decide whether I'm making a serious joke or I'm only jokingly serious.

27 posted on 11/02/2007 1:52:17 PM PDT by Knitebane (Happily Microsoft free since 1999.)
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To: DesScorp

From the American Prospect, tells me all I need to know.


29 posted on 11/02/2007 1:53:52 PM PDT by GOP_Raider (Television is all Tommy Westphall's fault, damn it!)
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To: DesScorp
Robert Farley:
Indeed, it would be wrong to say that the USAF is an idea whose time has passed. Rather, it's a mistake that never should have been made.
Freaking numb-skull moonbat. Without the USAF the entire world would be speaking Russian. But Bob would prolly like that scenario.

Oh Bob, and speaking of mistakes that never should have been made, how's your parents?

30 posted on 11/02/2007 1:53:56 PM PDT by Condor51 (Rudy makes John Kerry look like a Right Wing 'Gun Nut' Extremist)
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To: DesScorp

As an Army type, I think the idea of abolishing the AF is just liberal rhetoric. If we don’t use the AF properly it’s our fault. The same goes for the Marines, Special Forces, etc.


31 posted on 11/02/2007 1:54:11 PM PDT by caisson71
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To: DesScorp

There seem to be a lot of articles and comments on the net made against various things military because of the fact that we’re currently at war against an enemy that has no borders, navy, or air power. For example, who hasn’t seen an article about the F-22 that doesn’t have someone chiming in about how useless they are against terrorists?

It’s short sighted at the least, and downright dangerous to make decisions regarding war planning based upon the current war. People need to pull their heads out and look 5-20 years down the road.


33 posted on 11/02/2007 1:54:24 PM PDT by Hazwaste (Now with added lemony freshness!)
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To: DesScorp
Now I am pissed....


36 posted on 11/02/2007 1:54:57 PM PDT by darkwing104 (Let's get dangerous)
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To: DesScorp
My son is Navy. So was I. So on our visits I get plenty of this kind of argument.

My question is the same for all time. How do we best defend this nation? If the Air Force is part of that, it remains a vital part of the triumvirate. If not, they should be absorbed elsewhere.

Which outfit is doing the Lord's work preparing for the next war, or even later in this one. Is the Air Force providing needed innovation to help keep us one step ahead of the bad guys? Can the Air Force do things the Army, Navy and Marines can't and aren't interested in developing?

Would we be better off with just one branch of the military? What would you call it? The United States Military? Heck, maybe that's the right direction.

40 posted on 11/02/2007 1:56:40 PM PDT by stevem
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To: DesScorp

Granted, the USAF wears postal uniforms and has confused military bases with country clubs, but we don’t go around disbanding an entire military branch because we might be able to get by without it for the next 15 minutes.


41 posted on 11/02/2007 1:57:58 PM PDT by SampleMan (Islamic tolerance is practiced by killing you last.)
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To: DesScorp

“To a man, my Army friends, past and present, think USAF does a lousy job of air support in ground combat situations because they think the mission isn’t sexy enough.”

I spent time in the USAF and while its not perfect I cannot see that attitude. IMO its just another hit piece trying to be divisive.

On another note I once saw a cartoon comparing the different services. Starts with a marine in a muddy hole with bullets and bombs whizzing over his head; he says “I love how it sucks here”.

The army soldier is in a similar hole and says “ boy it sucks here”

The navy guy is looking out his porthole and says “boy it sucks over there”.

The Air Force guy is sitting in his recliner watching TV and says “WHAT NO CABLE, THIS SUCKS!!!”

Point is the services have always fought for a bigger role in whatever conflict. The USAF does an amazing job and ideas to abolish it during a time of war are naive at best. Attaching it to the Army is just plain stupid. Lets remember the Army uses comic books for training manuals.


44 posted on 11/02/2007 2:00:46 PM PDT by driftdiver
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To: DesScorp
I like your idea, though I'm afraid it might be too late. The "not a pound for air-to-ground" mentality shown by the Air Force over the last 60 years can be pretty infuriating to a grunt. The discredited air power dominance theories of Giulio Douhet and Billy Mitchell are alive and well in the USAF.

They fought tooth and nail to get rid of a superb CAS aircraft in the low-stall-speed, long-legged, well-protected, and well-armed A-10 to replace it with more F-16s, which had none of those qualities. They've always considered strategic bombing and interdiction to be a much higher priority.

At the very least, placing tactical air units directly under the operational command of Army units in theater, at the brigade level or perhaps even lower, is something that should be considered. This would be somewhat similar to the Soviet Frontal Aviation model. That sort of tactical flexibility will become increasingly imperative going forward.
47 posted on 11/02/2007 2:02:04 PM PDT by The Pack Knight (Duty, Honor, Country.... Valor.)
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To: DesScorp
Does the United States Air Force (USAF) fit into the post–September 11 world

A resounding yes.

49 posted on 11/02/2007 2:02:33 PM PDT by MEGoody (Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.)
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To: DesScorp
I hope I sound like the goat used in the AFLAC commercial...

NAHHH!

51 posted on 11/02/2007 2:02:37 PM PDT by JDoutrider
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To: DesScorp
This guy is an IDIOT!

F-16 killed Zarqawi, F-16s, F-15s, B-52s, B-1s and Navy craft bombed the caves the taliban hiding in Afghanistan.

UCAVs have killed terrorists in Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanitan, and Iraq.

I would bet the enemy forces have suffered the most casualties due to airstrikes.

JJ

53 posted on 11/02/2007 2:03:11 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar (Who would the terrorists vote for?)
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To: DesScorp
Does the United States Air Force (USAF) fit into the post–September 11 world, a world in which the military mission of U.S. forces focuses more on counterterrorism and counterinsurgency?

Did China and Russia disappear in the night?

56 posted on 11/02/2007 2:04:01 PM PDT by TigersEye (Kicked to the curb and left to fade away.)
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To: DesScorp
Abolishing the Air Force would be a huge mistake because the Air Force is able to recruit people who would not join the other branches of the armed forces.

Some people are willing to serve, but not in a face to face combat role, nor do they want to spend their time stationed on a big boat.

The Air Force does have troops in physically demanding, battlefield combat roles, and not everyone enters the Air Force just because it is the "easiest" of the branches of service.

The Air Force has a lot of more technical positions available, as well as a lot of good educational opportunities available.

If you get rid of the Air Force, many people who would enter the Air Force would simply not join the Army. When you join the military you don't get to pick your assignment. You can request what you want to do, but there are no guarantees.

One size does not fit all, and if you want to maintain a volunteer military, you need to give people options they are willing to accept.

61 posted on 11/02/2007 2:06:09 PM PDT by untrained skeptic
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To: DesScorp

The Air Force, the only branch of the military where the non-com’s pat the officers on the helmet and send THEM of to war.

lol

mrs

and yes, we’re air force


64 posted on 11/02/2007 2:07:12 PM PDT by proudmilitarymrs (It's not immigration, it's an invasion!)
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To: DesScorp

The Air Force, the only branch of the military where the non-com’s pat the officers on the helmet and send THEM off to war.

lol

mrs

and yes, we’re air force


65 posted on 11/02/2007 2:07:25 PM PDT by proudmilitarymrs (It's not immigration, it's an invasion!)
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To: DesScorp
Without an effective Air Force and air superiority, our military is nothing more than targets for JDAMs.

Current rules of engagement more than any thing else limit the effectiveness of our air support.

Our system works best the way it is.

69 posted on 11/02/2007 2:08:53 PM PDT by rdcbn
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To: DesScorp

Ah, serves the zoomies right. What goes around comes around.

Wasn’t it the Air Force General Spaatz who once said “what do we need the Navy for anyway?”

The zoomies need to be taken down a notch. They (not just Spaatz) used to throw the idea around that they could replace the Navy. Their bombers have the range to overfly the oceans, etc.


72 posted on 11/02/2007 2:10:16 PM PDT by sasportas
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