T. A. Gardner
Thread Killer
That makes the USAF being recombined with the Army sensible actually. Aviation is already part of the Army, it would simply be expanded. The Army today isn't allowed to have armed conventional aircraft. That's why they mainly use helicopters. At one point the Marines and Army developed a joint fixed wing aircraft that could be used for close air support--a mission the USAF is loathe to perform because it relegates them to just supporting the Army--and in the Army version just for reconnaissance.
But the Marine version was to be armed with 4 x 20mm and had like 9 weapons stations for mounting various ordinance. The Army version was to be unarmed and just for reconnaissance with cameras, radar, and the like. The USAF objected to the Army having the plane at all because it could potentially be armed in the future due to the Marine version. That killed the whole program.
The A-10 was largely forced on the USAF and they have tried to rid themselves of it ever since.
Worse, the USAF controls our ICBM force. If the Army did, it would be part of the artillery branch. In the USAF, it's an afterthought. Officers and enlisted that get put into that part of the USAF end up in a dead-end job with little promotion potential. Either you find a way to transfer out or you are stuck with a dead-end career.
With the Navy and Space force, they do specialized things in theaters of operations that don't overlap the Army / Air Force. Warfare at sea is very distinct from warfare on land. Amphibious operations are a specialized thing and done on the boundary between land and sea, thus the Marines. Space is a separate thing from atmospheric operations above land or sea.
The Navy and Air Force also have quite different needs for aircraft in terms of what they do. For the Navy long-range missile armed aircraft that can engage what are easily identified enemies is important. The USAF has less need for this as they generally have to fight in a more 'cluttered' environment where identification of enemy aircraft isn't so easy. That's one example.
A big part of the USAF's job is supporting the Army both as air cover and as what amounts to long-range artillery.
Yes, I do. You don't.
Start with that one.
