[jonascord]

Even worse. I'm one of the most terrifying of all. A Marine, accused by some of being intelligent. The rest call me a coldblooded, homicidal sociopath, but they are trying to get on my good side.

I personally prefer that the Air Force do what they do far away from me, since they have NEVER stumbled on to the concept of close, accurate, tactical air support. There are too many "kick-the-tires-and-light-the-fires" jet jocks in the upper reaches of the Air Force and Pentagon, and all that anoxia makes them too eager to start wearing a silk scarf and go all fangs out.

[darkwing104]

I personally prefer that the Air Force do what they do far away from me, since they have NEVER stumbled on to the concept of close, accurate, tactical air support.

I guess you never heard of the AC-130.

[SZonian]

Tell that to the families of this aircrew.

Spirit 03, an AC-130H gunship assigned to the 16th Special Operations Squadron, was engaging ground forces of the enemy in night-time battle near the town of Kahfji and was faced with a “return to base” decision. Concerned that American Marines were still in need of aerial close air support, the crew elected to continue on, although they knew that daybreak would soon reveal their location. As morning light illuminated the aircraft, the enemy launched a surface-to-air missile which destroyed the plane and killed all 14 crew members.

And here:http://books.google.com/books?id=KgD1VyCgGAYC&pg=PA162&lpg=PA162&dq=desert+storm+close+air+support&source=bl&ots=qMwP69ZoUP&sig=l9AarzxHcHB92IYxDEznHySCxMM&hl=en&ei=VZ_bSac-j8Yyy_m9wQg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4#PPA163,M1

Page 163 “danger close”.

I think the survivors of just these two incidents might disagree with your assessment.

SZ