Bigger problems

Dr. Farley continues to question the purpose of the United States Air Force.

This is OK as long as someone approaches it with an idea of how to do some of the existing missions.

In his latest effort, Dr. Farley brings up problems that are not USAF specific so much as they are DOD leadership specific in that we need senior leadership to get the most value out of all of the mission sets; regardless of service.

For example, the must-read "Super Carrier" by George Wilson looks at the 1983-84 cruise of the USS John F. Kennedy. In total, that cruise was completely worthless, and provided no valid defensive value to the United States. Not only the botched raid where JFK and the Indy lost some aircraft with one crewmen dead, one a POW and one in the drink rescued by a fisherman, but also another mission, an A-6 nighttime precision attack with ground lasing that puts a laser-guided bomb a mile away from the target into an apartment building.

The JFK cruise accomplished nothing. How about the carrier myth?

As an aside, I think carriers do have a use. Including this.

Look at all of the bad procurement mistakes and wasted billions by the USN: flatops for the USMC with no well deck; $6B each DDX of questionable worth;$15B aircraft carriers; over-priced Burkes; the bad idea of the LCS and much more.

The USN has managed ASW and anti-mine warfare into a grand paper-tiger.

Go Navy: you can take a year off if you like.

Marines? The corrupt Amos and friends want to lose $51B on the Just So Failed (an all service problem).

The Army? M-1 tank, Bradley and Stryker for starters. Getting a whole bunch of Apaches shot to pieces in a poorly planned raid on the Medina Division in Iraq another.

Covering up how Pat Tillman died is only one example of a serious lack of 4-star ethics; across all of the DOD.

If the USAF is unfit for air power as Dr. Farley claims, certainly the U.S. Navy is unfit for sea power. The U.S. Army is unfit for land power.

We have problems in DOD; across the board, of the 4-star kind.

(edited to clean up some mistakes)