I wouldn’t count on AirLand remaining their doctrine if budgets get tight and the Air Force has some other mission that they value more highly.
If the Army gets to control fixed wing CAS then they can make sure it’s there when they need it. Otherwise they are at the mercy of whomever is in charge of the Air Force.
And then we go back to the argument of who’s going to protect the CAS if it’s part of the army?
Terrorists are one thing, but the Red Chinese Army Air Force, the Russian Air Force, just to name two, would LOVE to vector onto Army CAS without a integrated CAP.
The mission of the Air Force is to FIRST sweep the skies. That way our guys on the ground aren’t the recipients of what WE have become so good at: Wiping them out from on high.
Like I said, the armed services have gone down this road before. It started with the court-martial of Billy Mitchell. It stunned the world in Pearl Harbor. The fight for an independent Air Force took two wars and 30 years. It was confirmed in 1947 and then again in the Key West decision.
Since we’ve had an independent Air Force, combat troops have not been bombed by enemy aircraft. A well integrated CAP and CAS is going to be an absolute necessity the day the balloon goes up with a REAL adversary.