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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 7,988
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jan 2001
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Because the Air Force hates and always has hated, the Close Air Support mission.. FINE, give them to the Army & Marines, they appreciate them and would make the most with them! Actually, the Marines have had an Air wing for quite some time. My son was in aircraft maintenance in the Marines and worked on support equipment, C130's, and other aircraft. That was before he became a Marine Security Guard (Embassy Guard). Adopting another aircraft wouldn't be a stretch for them. Bob
Never underestimate your ability to overestimate your ability.
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 42,600
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 42,600 |
They tried giving them to the Army, but the logistics train was "more than they could beah" and the Marines' airplanes are really DoN and besides, their landing gear is way too spindly for carrier use. Jorge, I thought the Army didn't get the A-10 because they were prohibited from flying fixed-wing combat aircraft. Army has been flying fixed wing airplanes longer than the Air Force, just not in a tactical role.
A good principle to guide me through life: “This is all I have come to expect, standard lackluster performance. Trust nothing, believe no one and realize it will only get worse…”
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 15,856
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 15,856 |
Because the Air Force hates and always has hated, the Close Air Support mission.. FINE, give them to the Army & Marines, they appreciate them and would make the most with them! Gonna give the marines the aircraft maintainence squadrons too? Guys who joined the Air Force just might not want to be marines That instantly took me back to '70 and the 1st draft lottery. My college roommate had to go take a pre-draft physical even though his number was too high to be drafted. They had all the men who passed the physical separated into 2 groups, new draftees and those who had higher numbers. The draftees were in a long line waiting to be processed when a guy wearing a different looking uniform with blue pants came in. He counted off about 1/3 of the line and moved them across the room. He then said "Congratulations men. You are now US Marines." Many of them freaked. Yup... Seen it happen while I was inprocessing at the Detroit Center. Bunch of us were in a line waiting for our physical when a jarhead walked the line, grabbed a few and pulled them out of the line. Told them they were now Marines.
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 8,748
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 8,748 |
The USAF wants to retire them in large part because they are old! [bleep] wears out! Take a ride in a fighter or A-10 like aircraft and you'll see how hard they are flown. Do they have a suitable replacement in my opinion, no. But for most scenarios you can do good work with F-16s, F-35s, F-15Es, etc., and a JFACC. Do they want to say money and go to an F-35 fleet, sure. Neither can do all the other can, but overall the F-35 is certainly a more capable aircraft. And, the A-10 won't be doing CAS for long against a capable opponent with decent Surface-to-air capabilities. The F-35s and others with standoff weapons receiving targeting from a JFACC will be much more effective. While the USAF may not have the reputation of wanting the CAS mission, the A-10 community is very tight knit and rightfully very proud of their CAS and CSAR capability. The Army operates many fixed wing aircraft in recce and logistics roles.
Last edited by prm; 06/29/15.
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 42,600
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 42,600 |
^^^WHAT HE SAID^^^..but.. the AF HATES the CAS mission. Always has.
A good principle to guide me through life: “This is all I have come to expect, standard lackluster performance. Trust nothing, believe no one and realize it will only get worse…”
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,166
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,166 |
They tried giving them to the Army, but the logistics train was "more than they could beah" and the Marines' airplanes are really DoN and besides, their landing gear is way too spindly for carrier use. Jorge, I thought the Army didn't get the A-10 because they were prohibited from flying fixed-wing combat aircraft. Army has been flying fixed wing airplanes longer than the Air Force, just not in a tactical role. Have they really? Well, what do you know! I always thought they just flew helicopters 
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 17,133
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 17,133 |
Actually, the Marines have had an Air wing for quite some time. My son was in aircraft maintenance in the Marines and worked on support equipment, C130's, and other aircraft. That was before he became a Marine Security Guard (Embassy Guard). Adopting another aircraft wouldn't be a stretch for them.
Bob It's not just another airplane in the wing. It's another support/part/training/deployment pipeline. The Marines are working very hard to get rid of Harriers, F/A-18's and EA-6B's and get to a single tacair platform, the F-35. No, it won't work but that is the plan. Similarly, the Navy has moved down to the F/A-18C and the F/A-18 E/F/G platforms for TACAIR (and yes, the C needs to be broken out from the E/F/G since there is only about 15% parts commonality between the 1st gen and 2nd gen Hornet)platform. It took the Navy over 10 years to get where they are. It will take the Marines another 8. They are not likely to derail that track. The article itself is biased pro A-10 and there is a significant amount of BS in it about current and future threats but it's also got valid points that shouldn't be ignored.
If something on the internet makes you angry the odds are you're being manipulated
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 8,748
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 8,748 |
Agree, the USAF leadership is not too keen on the CAS mission. They will argue they are replacing the A-10 with an aircraft that will be better suited to future CAS missions, and there is some truth to that. But if we find ourselves fighting terrorist orgs or any non-nation state entity, the A-10 is tough to beat.
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Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 5,082
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 5,082 |
I wonder if we'd be having this conversation if we had kept to the "army airforce" rather than branching them off to a separate service?
Merge them back?
Stupidity is expensive
If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck!
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Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 5,737
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 5,737 |
The Air Force has hated the Mud Mover job ever since WWII. They want clean, romantic missions of the Red Baron fighting Snoopy.
Jim
"Whensoever the General Government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force." --Thomas Jefferson
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