New Chief of Staff of the Army Comments (Notes)

"Well I was with you there until you called F-16 pilots cowards. I assume you know Air Force pilots transition from one aircraft to another, sometimes several times in a career? An F-16 pilot today may be a warthog driver tomorrow and vice versa. If you were trying to make a point you blew it pal."

I KNOW a bunch of F-16 pilots. Not ONE of them would get down and dirty and not one of them has ever flown a Warthog.

Having been on the ground and in need of CAS, I can tell you that the line of preference is Marine Aviation (great!), Naval Aviation (okay), and then the horrible, awful, cowardly USF who flies way overhead and drops a few bombs semi-randomly and then quickly flies off. The USAF *HATES* ground support and essentially refuses to do it. The only exception is the tiny number of Warthog guys, and the USAF hates both them and the Warthog.

I have friends and relatives in the USAF. One of my friends and one of my nephews are serving USAF officers with fighter squadrons. I know these people. I have been in the dirt under heavy fire while they flew happily away and left us there. Contrast that with Marine Aviaition, who gets down low and fights like Hell for their brothers on the ground. A Marine pilot in a bar will be bought drinks all night long by his ground-pounding brethren for whom he has put his life on the line; a USAF pilot in the same bar had better watch out, because we know just what he is. The contempt for them knows no bounds.

"What happens when the grunts have no artillery and the USAF won't give them *danger close* support in populated areas?"

Easy one. The grunts take unnecessary casualties and they learn to hate the Air Force with a passion.

Watching people get nailed because the USAF pilot overhead wet his pants and flew back to his hot dinner and his air-conditioned quarters rather than actually get take a risk and provide the close air support that was his job makes for very resentful ground-pounders.

Marine aviators, on the other hand, are loved and respected because they put it all on the line whenever they need to. Nobody does CAS better.

We must re-look Army Aviation - its equipment, tactics manning, etc - and be truly honest about its capabilities before we fly helicopters over any more heavily defended positions without combined arms and joint support

Let me hear and AMEN!

AMEN!!

"Breaking Right"

The housing business is humorous. The army has long hated having to manage on-post housing. Why haven't they changed it? Because there's a whole civilian government jobs system built in support of it. Everytime it's tried to change, the gov unions and politicians get called into it, and then the initiative dies.

If Rumsfeld leaves after Bush's first term, the civilians will outlast this one, and it will not change

Actually, it's already in the midst of changing over to contracted support, as are many support roles in DoD.

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