Holy sh*t, a triple team by MAGNUM!!, Oh-ryan and SIG600. I’ll reply to MAGNUM!! since he is the only AF guy of the three.
What other response would I expect from the poster boy of the 9 to 5 AF culture? Drop your bombs and head home to a few rounds of golf and happy hour.
While the AF views “takeoff and landing” as just a simple event, the Navy views “takeoff and landing” from a much higher level strategic perspective. The Carrier Air Power Strategy is what truly gives the US a fast global strike capability.
The AF global strike capability may look good on PowerPoint, but it is the Navy that has the actual capability to execute. While an F-16 is RTB and on his second piddle pack (Navy pilots simply use a Gatorade bottle and then sell it to the AF guys as a new lemon-lime flavor), the Navy guys have already landed and rearmed for the next dmpi’s. Being 400 nm from the target is good.
Plus, a CVN doesn’t have to worry about basing rights. It’s all about location, location, location MAGNUM!!
The AF has outstanding pilots, but in 3-5 years there’s not going to be many of them. After force shaping the AF is going to consist of 195 F-22s and 300 pilots. Didn’t you guys just retire the F-117 to buy 2 more F-22s?
Your F-15 and F-16 pilots better hope they make the cut for that final slot of 300 or they will find themselves teaching soaring or basic and advanced unlawful harassment in Colorado Springs. Or there is always the Palace Chase program.