[Steely Glint]

The F-16 is about as useful at air support as a kite would be. Too high, too fast, too fighter-pilot-oriented.

Close Air Support needs to be delivered near ground level, which is why the Warthogs and all of Marine Aviation are so very deadly (and so very valued) for CAS: they fly low and hit hard. Meanwhile, the cowards that fly F-16's stay in the clouds where they can't be hit and never even get near the battlefield and if all you have is F-16 CAS then you have to watch good men die with no support.

Don't let the warthogs be killed off by the USAF Fighter Pilot Mafia. We don't need fancy fighters in the post-USSR world; we need effective CAS and lots of it.

[Arkie2]

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.