The Air Force has no problem funding guns AND butter, bullets AND billets?
Better tell the new Secretary of Defense. See, he got involved with the growing number of complaints from Army officers about the Predator shortage. The Air Force had about a hundred Predators, but only a dozen were in Iraq. Questions were asked.
The Air Force said it did not have enough Predators, and that there was also a shortage of Predator operators, and that the Predator operators’ hotel concierge would look into providing alternate solutions amenable to all concerned.
There were more than a dozen in theater. The writer doesn’t understand enough to write a coherent article.
As I’ve written, the CSAF has offered to put every Predator into theater, provided the SECDEF would accept the consequences.
The SECDEF, like the Joint Staff, sometimes wants what he wants WITHOUT consequence - but that isn’t how life works.
As for USAF funding, the fact that we’re trying to throw out 40-60K people to pay for equipment suggests we don’t have enough to pay the bills that are coming due from 20 years without new aircraft.
7/13/2007 - WASHINGTON -- General T. Michael Moseley, the Air Force Chief of Staff, is accelerating delivery of the Defense Department's December 2009 goal of 21 daily Predator combat air patrols by one year.
At the CSAF's request, Air Force officials coordinated deployment actions with the Joint Staff and Central Command to increase three additional Air Force MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle combat air patrols (CAPs), boosting full motion video and rapid strike capability to the Joint Force Commander in Iraq. Two of these CAPs are expected to be active this summer or early fall.
"The Predator provides a tremendous capability for our joint and coalition forces on the ground," said Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, the deputy Air Force Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance. "The Air Force is pushing to expand Predator air patrols for Admiral Fallon's use as quickly as possible."
Currently, Airmen operate 12 Predator CAPs providing combat capability to joint forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The acceleration is possible due to the CSAF's "Total Force" approach to fielding enhanced combat capability. The recently increased Predator training capacity, and the inclusion of additional Air National Guard Airmen supports both increased flight operations and a more robust exploitation of Predator data.
Each Predator CAP provides 24-hour, seven days a week combat operations. They are flown by both active duty and Air National Guard personnel through secure communications to bases in Nevada,California and North Dakota. The Air Force will also begin flying Predator combat operations from Arizona next week, all part of the Chief of Staff's "Total Force" approach in combining Active, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard capabilities in a much more inclusive and effective manner.
The U.S. Air Force continues to deploy all operational Predator assets and will look to sustain this combat capability as new production aircraft, ground stations and aircrew are delivered. To fully man this new level for Central Command the Air Force will maintain 160"Total Force" Predator crews, up from 120 last year.
Please note the writer of the original article doesn't understand the difference between a Predator vehicle and a Predator CAP.
From the FY 2009 UNFUNDED Requirements List (Feb 2008):
The MQ-1B Predator provides the Air Force’s primary full motion video (FMV) capability. CENTCOM requirements are quickly outpacing the program of record as Combat Air Patrols (CAPs) increases are continually requested to meet urgent operational needs. Current program of record supports 21 CAPs by FY09, however recent surge requirements increased to 24 CAPs in FY08. The proposed plus-up adds additional MQ-1 aircraft, spares, and ground control stations to meet rapidly increasing full motion video requirements allowing MQ-1 to meet increasing FMV urgent operational needs.