"Any fool can make history, but it takes a genius to write it."
Oscar Wilde

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

The Neglect of the U.S.A.F.

I am not the most knowledgeable military strategist in the world, not even close, but I am sure of one thing: air superiority is always the key to victory. If an army has control of the air, they can obliterate any ground unit in sight. In World War II, the Air Force, while not given much credit, saved the lives of thousands of soldiers by hitting the Germans before they could hit us. According to Lt. George Wilson, veteran and author of the WWII novel If You Survive (which is a great book, by the way): "I wonder if the Air Force ever received enough credit for its awesomely effective job. One can only speculate how many infantry lives the Air Force saved. For all that, I am willing to admit that I always resented the extra pay and comfortable living of the Air Force boys. I am now prepared to declare my deepest, most profound appreciation for the work they did and for the incredible risks they took every time they were in the air." There it is, straight from the mouth of a veteran of one of the most vicious wars of the 20th Century; the Air Force has protected the lives of thousands of soldiers in the past, and continue to do so now.
However, now that we have addressed the value of the Air Force, I wish to go one step further and elaborate on a theory of mine concerning the Air Force's role in modern day warfare. Today, the Air Force spends millions of dollars on drones, high tech fighter jets, etc, however their budget is diminutive compared to the Army's. The Army spent 243.9 billion dollars in 2010 to update, control, and maintain their equipment. However, the Air Force, in my opinion, a much more important unit, spent 170.6 billion dollars to update, maintain and operate their equipment. There is a difference of just over 100 billion dollars there! Now, according to the EOD Memorial Foundation, 12 airmen have given their lives in the current War on Terror. Let us compare, according to Wikipedia, a whopping 4,392 men of the U.S. Marines and Army have killed in action, not to mention the 31,827 men wounded. While Wikipedia may not be the best source, we can still see the difference in loss of life for the Air Force and the U.S. Army and Marines. Just in terms of men killed and wounded, the Air Force is a much more efficient unit, but let us go one step further. If U.S. planes swarmed the skies of Iraq and Afghanistan during the day and night, the insurgents would be afraid to leave their caves. One may say that they could still operate effectively as terrorist organization in their caves, but then I will answer with this: if we cut 100 billion dollars from the Army and restrict them to just defense of America herself, give 50 billion of those dollars to the Air Force, and then put the remaining 50 billion dollars into U.S. border protection, the security of the U.S./Mexican Border would increase, and terrorists would have a much more difficult time getting into the country itself. Not just this, but the U.S.A.F. would have a huge surge of funding, and therefore of technology. The U.S. would be foremost in air superiority, not to even speak of the potential innovations that would result. Also, with Marines and Army pulled back out of combat zones, U.S. casualties would plummet, and many more people would support the War.
This is my theory concerning the potential power of the U.S.A.F, and while it is immensely powerful now, I believe the unit could become the best fighting force in the world if we just give it some funding.
Thanks for reading everyone! I know I have one U.S.A.F. veteran among my readers but if there are any others or U.S.A.F. enthusiasts please tell me if you think this theory has potential or is simply ridiculous. By the way, no offense to any Army or Marine soldiers, I just happen to believe the U.S.A.F. is a more valuable unit when comparing firepower and casualties.


This video does not contain open violence, but it does show a vehicle being blown up. If you are sensitive to this, do not watch it. This video shows U.S. Marines pinned down in a street by the vehicle down the road. They are in Mosul, Iraq. If you listen you can hear the Marines talking to each other and the cracks and pings of bullets hitting their Humvee. This camera was mounted on the bumper of the armored vehicle that they are firing from. This video shows the awesome power of the Air Force. If you pause it at 0:25, you can see the missile coming towards the vehicle. After watching it, consider how long it would have taken for the Marines to do the same job the F-16 did in seconds. This does not even bring into consideration the potential wounds and loss of life that may have ensued. Enjoy everyone!

5 comments:

  1. I like the theory. Air superiority is crucial and nobody does it better than the USA!

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  2. Very interesting point of view.

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  3. Impressive video! I really want to be a peace lovin', granola crunchin, pacifist...but, if I HAD to go to war, you've convinced me that air power is where the money should be spent.

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  4. Thanks everyone!!!

    I just modified my settings to make commenting easier. I hope it worked...

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  5. You've come up with a very wise topic.
    Peace Ho!
    Can I Change the World?
    How do you view your power equation with the world?
    http://www.3smartcubes.com/pages/tests/changeworld/changeworld_instructions.asp

    ReplyDelete