Let’s not engage in revisionist history, Buckwheat. You people weren’t flying those missions all by your lonesome.
The Air Force has been in the process of constant change for decades, with a steady drumbeat of expeditionary air operations. Perhaps uniquely among the Services, the Air Force has been at war, more or less constantly, for 17 years, since the launch of Desert Storm. Since September 11th, the Air Force has flown nearly a million missions in the war on terror, with an average of 300 sorties per day ranging from lift to medevac to close air support.