Bill, I totally agree with "The Air Force never had any business pulling close air support from the army."
And they have continually tried to gain control of Marine air, whether in Korea, Vietnam, Gulf War I, or now. Usually they have succeeded, supported in their lust by the Army who always wants more sorties; and may well rather work under Marine Air cover anyway. There is hope. From a short article in my latest Marine Corps Gazette, it appears that early on in planning for Iraqi Freedom, the USAF air boss relented, and for good reason.
A ground pounder's worst nightmare is an airborne or ground based forward air controller(FAC) that has a two dimensional view of the infantry battalion commander's four dimensional space, the fourth being the freedom of action affected only by higher commander's intent and the unfolding events on the ground.
Thank God our Marine forefathers insisted on Marines flying over Marines controlled by Marine FACs in the air or on the ground. When you have a direct support(DS) connection with your supporting air and arty, preplanned events are more assured and unplanneds are not the stress inducers they would be with a blue suiter providing close air support(CAS).
The Marine Corps is also looking at the requirement for CAS to be controlled by an aviator FAC, either airborne, or from the ground. The advent of UAVs, oftentimes flown by enlisted Marine pilots, has opened the whole question of the Marine pilots' ground-based role.
For sure, UAVs, armed with smaller precision munitions, have opened up another area for examination. Under the UAVs, the troops may not need to withdraw from the target as they would with the larger piloted CAS munitions. Supported by the lower and slower UAVs, the troops on the ground can control the drop at a closer range without endangering their own.
So, the USAF is not only fighting the obsolence of the slow heavy birds, they are in a turf war to protect their own featherbedding rules. They are fighting the advent of infantry-controlled UAV CAS. The handwriting is on the wall, Bill. Yes, under the current SecDef, the blue suiters are out of favor. A Marine as CJCS and a Squid as deputy? The flying bus drivers must be apoplectic!
jj |
