No, it did not become a ground battle. It was ALWAYS a ground battle, as every war must be at its core. It only gained an air component when NATO decided to stick our collective noses in it. The rebels and Qaddafi loyalists were duking it out with Russian iron in the streets when we got there.
Time out...the AF is doing air support missions, so you can't say they are irrelevant in these times. That is my point. Just because you don't see 15,16, 22's doing air to air or dropping bombs does not equate to the AF is not involved. Whether NATO sticks their nose in it, means nothing...look at your Kosova argument; wasn't that a NATO issue, but you used it to defend the Army.
While the AF and Navy were doing that, the Army was doing Somalia, Bosnia, Haiti, and Kosovo (speaking of things that got walked away from quickly...the AD Army was still doing Kosovo rotations in 2003...after the 1998 war). Everyone got their pet missions in the 90s. But we aren't talking about the 90s.
UMMM...Who gave the ride to Haiti for the 82nd? Not Tower Air, it was the AF. Pope's runway was littered with heavies, along with Dover and McGuire.
You are correct the Army stayed in Kosova, but the Army is ground it is not Air, that is their mission. (NATO issue that you just argued about regarding Libya and AF) So while the Army had the missions you stated, and were not in the sandbox, the AF was with the Army on many of those missions AND in the sandbox, but you can't say the same for the Army. Remember that they were there in the beginning with the Army and still did the Sandbox, just like when Haiti came about AF still did OSW/ONW at the same time.
My point is and was guess what they have all been stretched thin, but because we live in "our" community we lose sight of the other communities that play a part in our success.
Oh, if only THAT were true. It would be great if it worked that way. Ask any Soldier how he got to Iraq or Afghanistan. His answer will be "by contract air."
This may be true, heck when Bullet went to the Green Zone he flew Tower Air. However, you know that guy who get's injured in theater, tell me how he gets home? 10 will get you 20 it is not Tower Air, but a military transport that usually goes 1st to a base called RAMSTEIN!
Do you think we have "C" planes just to take military members on leave to Hawaii instead of paying commercial prices, or are you willing to acknowledge that the C stands for Cargo, and military members sometimes are the Cargo. Again, look back at the Haiti invasion, or lack there of it, it was the AF that took them.
How about humanitarian air lifts, do they come via contracted air lines or is it the AF dropping pallets?
I am not trying to play tit for tat, I fully acknowledge the importance of each branch, but to sit there and say if Iran went off the rails today, the Army could do it alone, is not realistic, the Army would want the AF fighters to assist in the fight when they are pinned down.
As much as you hate to hear/read it, but look at the Kuwait invasion...how long did it take the Army to get there? Who gave them a ride? Can you swear on your life that will never happen again? Nobody saw it coming. I am not about to bank my life on that.
You say we need to have a big picture perspective. Then you start talking about not making hard cuts because barber shops and Waffle Houses in military towns might not survive. Which is it?
We can't sustain these budgets. Period. And we can't fool ourselves into thinking we're floating the economy with hardware production.
The perspective I was giving, was that many Americans believe the DOD budget needs to be cut, because they live in their bubble, and never realize the big picture.
Patentesq got it right...it is a collage, and you are looking at the tree, not the forest. For military it is my branch and not the DOD.
Look at the housing market, people sat there and said don't bail them out, they bought a home they couldn't afford. They never realized 1 in 6 jobs is tied to the housing market, and because they did not correct the housing market, 3 yrs later we are still in the tanks. The avg American took the bubble perspective, it's not me. Only to find out later on the incorrect action made it about them because now they are underwater due to foreclosures.
That is the same with the DOD, "I don't care, I am not in the military, my family isn't in the military, we don't work for Lockheed or Raytheon". Little did they realize that their little company that makes nylon, lost a contract to the DOD which made up 30% of their profits and now they get a pink slip.
This is not a military issue now, this is an economical issue. We cannot afford to cut just for the sake of cutting. Yes, we need to cut, but it needs to be precision strikes now and we need to understand that. If you take the perspective of looking at the dire straights our economy is in, you will be left with one question...can we afford as a nation to put more people out of work at this time? MPO, is no, we would be looking at a depression and not a double dip recession.
Hollowing out one force will just create bigger problems for another that is not ready to pick up the slack it is not a solution. Handing over money for green jobs with companies that go bankrupt using American tax dollars or converting contracted jobs to GS or closing tax loop holes is where I would look before hitting the DOD, but than again that is my bubble!
