[A.A. Cunningham]

Buying the F would further delay and possibly kill the acquisition of the JSF. If the DCA was to go up to the Hill and tell those clowns that he has 86'ed the party line and now wanted money for 72 SHs then those same clowns would more than likely tell him to pull the plug on the B. Also, were that to happen, the CNO would then probably lobby like a mad man for the VMAQs to all transition to the F as well. So what might appear on paper to be the ideal solution that you envision, would in reality be nothing but a nightmare for Marine aviation.

Number one, the TAI should be shredded and those three squadrons brought back home and the fourth, that's slated to be added in FY2012, should stay put as well. It's long past time for the Navy to get its act together and start staffing its TOEs with its own bodies and birds, not the Corps'.

Number two, NAVAIR needs to get off their collective a**es and expedite CBR+ and SLEP B and start pulling airframes from AMARC if necessary.

At this stage the addition of yet another airframe, when the goal is to get to a single one, isn't the solution. The solution is to hold LMs feet to the fire and force them to produce. Your proposal calls for an additional (AW) squadron which isn't budgeted either. Where do you propose getting the money and the bodies for that, particularly in light of the scuttlebutt about cutting manpower in the not too distant future? How many people and programs are you willing to screw over to get what you want?