[excon]

Hello:

What's wrong with the Air Force? They lost a tanker deal cause they got caught cheating... They had a real bad sex scandal, and then they had a cheating scandal at the Air Force Academy. They transported nuclear weapons unknowingly, and ILLEGALLY over American soil. The top civilian and the top military dudes were just fired.

And, worst of all, the Army is fielding its OWN air force instead of relying on ours. The Marine and Navy pilots say the Air Force pilots don't come in as low as they do, and THEY cause lots of collateral damage when they bomb from so high. Apparently, they think the Air Force is chicken. That's why the Army has fired the Air Force.

What's the dufus in chief have to say about this? I have no idea. Maybe nobody told him. This incurious fellow ain't going to find out on his own.

excon

[twinkiedooter]

Ok I'm thinking on the following lines... At one time the Air Force WAS part of the Army as the Army Air Corp or something like that. Then the Air Force broke away and started their own bunch of flyboys and their own branch of the military. What I think is happening here is that the Army has started their own bunch of flyboys and their own air force so that they don't have to tell the real Air Force what's going on and they can do all sorts of rotten things like play miss the target and no one will be the wiser. A lot of the personnel transporting the nooclear weapons wound up mysteriously dead also. There have been too many weird things happening now with the Army to explain away. Don't bother telling the village idiot anything as he never flew anywhere except in his toy trainer plane (and he didn't even bother to show up to do that). Anyway, he's too busy packing the White House silverware for his move to Paraguay soon to his new zillion acre ranch there.

[tomder55]

The Airforce is a relic of the cold war. It was not needed before then and it is not needed now.They still think they are fighting in Bosnia from thousands of feet in the air when the needs of the Army is for close support. The Navy and Marines already have their own air units for close air support . The Army should have their own also .

If there is a need for an AF at all it is for air superiority . Even their role as a strategic force has been greatly diminished. The Navy can deliver nukes or strategic weapons with the same accuracy as the AF does.

The Army has also complained of the lack of cooperation that the AF gives in troops transport. In the mobile nature of the GWOT this is critical .

The biggest turf war, however, is over Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) . Without their own they Army is dependent on the AF for battle ground intel.


Just because the President has not publicly commented on the various issues you raised does not mean he is not aware of them . Gates has taken the bull by the horn. He fired the Air Force's 2 top commanders;primarily over the nuke blunder . Do you think President Bush was not aware of that move ahead of time ?

The tanker contract... The GAO found errors in the way they handled the bidding . If the Air Force had given the contract to Boeing in a no-bid deal would that've been better ? I know Seattle has a vested interest in the pork that the contract would've provided but even with the flaws a competitive bidding process is better. Of course now the libs in Congress are crying about it when they have been the biggest critics of no-bid contracts (except when Clinton awarded them)

I just wonder how much lobbying it took for Boeing to get a 2nd chance.I know much of their pr was protectionist .Why is it that Boeing officials are the ones who went down over this ?As I recall it was Sen. McCain's investigation that proved unethical behavior at Boeing that sent some Boeing employees to jail.
But it is an election year ;so McCain is blamed for being the front man for a contract that has an overseas subcontractor.

Don't worry ; when B.O. is President there will be no need for a bidding process because the military will be gutted.

[tomder55]

he never flew anywhere except in his toy trainer plane (

This is false. He was a certified Convair F-102 pilot.Further ;when GW Bush joined the Texas ANG members of his unit ;147th Fighter Interceptor Group; were serving in Vietnam .It is not his fault that he want not deployed.Bush graduated from the training program in June 1970. When interviewed by the Associated Press in February 2004, flight instructor Maj. Udell recalled that Lt. Bush was one of his best students saying that, "I'd rank him in the top five percent."

SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Politics -- Echoes of Vietnam in presidential campaign 35 years later

There was always the possibility that the ANG might be mobilized to send F-102 squadrons to Vietnam. But F-102 had originally been stationed there to guard against the possibility of air attack from the North, a danger that never materialized since NV pilots refused to stray south of the border and outside their protective SAM barrier. This prompted the Air Force to gradually withdraw the F-102 from Vietnam beginning in December 1969 through May 1971. The F-102 was instead returned to its primary role of providing air defense for the United States.