You answered your own question. The Air Force doesn't have Infantrymen...
The current powers want the glamour planes, not the ugly warthog. Screw them. That hog is the best damned thing they have going for the types of fighting we're doing these days.
“The current powers want the glamour planes, not the ugly warthog. Screw them. That hog is the best damned thing they have going for the types of fighting we’re doing these days.”
The Air force is forced to choose between the lesser of two evils because of Democrats cutting the Air Force budgets. Given current appropriations of funding for the Air Force, they can deploy either (1) an air force with more superior single-role Close Air Support (CAS) aircraft and fewer air superiority multi-role aircraft to defend them or (2) an air force with no single single-role Close Air Support (CAS) aircraft and more multi-role air superiority aircraft capable of defending themselves while continuing a somewhat inferior Close Air Support role in addition to its essential multi-role air superiority missions. When Congress cuts the funding, it becomes a choice between the lesser of two evils. So, insist on restoral of funding for both aircraft, the A-10 and the F-16 aircraft.