A military aviation partial primer
From some emails to some relatives
One old time saying comes to mind.....use it or lose it.
So if the A-10 gets mothballed, that’s it.
As to MRAP (MRAP = Mine
Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicles and
other such gear, some of it is already going to local police departments for
them to try maintain. Good luck.
Depending on one’s political persuasion, MRAP’s in the hands of
police can be used for or against us. Around Monterey I suspect they will be
used for us. They already have some HumVees from the withdrawal over in the
Middle East.
Assuming fire support is always a big deal, and assuming the A-10
ultimately goes away, then rotary wing, artillery, and mortars should get a
boost, especially the mortars.
What the mortars suffer for in range, they will make up for in
accuracy and availability and mobility, I think.
Heck, maybe even the 107 mm mortar will come back in a newer
model.
There was a time when the Army thought in terms of a Corps
and Divisions and Wings. The Marines used another name for the same thing,
called a Force and Divisions and Wings and senior combat support element.
Now both think in terms of expeditionary Brigades and
expeditionary warfare, like task organized ground battalions for the ground
element, some squadrons for an air element, a combat support element for both
the ground and air elements, and a headquarters element to fight the whole
thing. Often it was driven by reduced budgets, reduced numbers of ships, etc.,
pretty much anything but war fighting.
Now how they get to the war is another subject.
And how they will task organize will depend on the situation, and
one can combine elements as required to get the job done.
Within the Marines, a lot of heavy stuff, like heavy artillery,
was initially under the control of the force commander. There was even a
command for all this stuff to train and maintain it and fight it. Now, all of
it has been passed down one level, generally speaking.
Now comes the Air Force that sill thinks it can win any future
wars all by itself. The Navy and Army and Marines are mostly superfluous in
this way of organizing. The arguments have been going on since well before
WWII.
Now that will continue to stir up any future brews some more, too.
The idea is being independent and “making airplanes” available as
the Air Force sees fit. That would include the A-10 for fire support.
So if the A-10’s get mothballed, it will say a lot just by how the
Air Force does it.
You may hear another old time term come back, too. It’s called
cadre, like in putting A-10 units into cadre status.
The British model is superior, in my opinion. The reason I think
it is superior is mostly about who they work for.
You know, even in WWII Eisenhower had to threaten to resign just
to get the air force to do what he wanted them to do vice them doing what they
wanted to do.
The academic who wrote Masters
of the Air pointed this out in vivid detail.
Right now the USAF (United States Air Force) will only submit to
the theater commander. Forget Brigade commanders where and when they are
deciding priorities on a daily basis.
But for example, if the USAF won’t build any CAS (Close air
support) type planes, then they
obviously won’t be available until catch up time is completed, like usually more
than a year. Hence that is why I can see the Army buying more rotary wing,
artillery, and mortar weapons to get the fire support they think they need. This
idea applies even during a time of poor budgets and National Disarmament.
So if you hear anyone say a mothballed A-10 can deploy ready to
fight as quick as an active duty A-10 can, I think we are being sold a bill of
goods. Practical planning factors suggest around a year's delay is more reasonable. In the meantime a lot of
drafted young Americans, like your and my kids, are going to suffer. Of course
the enemy has to cooperate, too.
So my bottom line is the Army, Navy, and Marines give a higher
priority to providing fire support via CAS than does the USAF.
And the F-35 is not the one.
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