The author makes three great observations: the Air Force needs to be fully integrated into the joint service team, the up or out system of military promotion is broken, and a call to national service is needed.
While I do not go as far as calling for the elimination of the Air Force (it is politically untenable; once you create a bureaucracy it can never be eliminated) in order to get the Air Force to play well with its sister services, Secretary Gates (pbuh) has gone very far. He fired the the Secretary of the Air Force and Air Force Chief of Staff last year and then made a cargo pilot (BLASPHEMY!!!) the new Air Force Chief of Staff. If this didn't send a message to the fighter pilot elite (and to a lesser extent bomber pilot elite), I don't know what does. It tells them that air power (Airp!) alone will not win wars, you are not as relevant as you think, and you better support your sister services through logistics (e.g. flying C-130s and supporting the ground war with UAVs).
I would love to know what my old graduate professor, a retired Air Force Colonel working at Northrop Grumman that gave me a B+ for arguing against a leap ahead defense planning, is doing right now. I'm very proud of that B+...
Where is Sam Damon?
A blog dedicated to debate and commentary on national security, foreign affairs, veterans' issues, and a whole host of other topics. If you are not familiar with who Sam Damon is, click here. Feel free to post comments or contact Onager via e-mail at whereissamdamon@gmail.com.
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