Air Force pinched by ground war needs

[CommunityEditor]

Gen. Michael Moseley, the Air Force chief of staff, is concerned about troop reassignment and the qualifications of those reassigned. From the article --


With President Bush and Congress in a standoff over Iraq spending, the Pentagon is shifting money among services and accounts, including drawing down funds earmarked for other later purposes.

In a breakfast session with a group of reporters, Moseley said he was trying to be realistic. “We live in a joint world. We live in a military that’s at war. And we live in a situation where, if we can contribute, then sign me up for it.”

Still, the Air Force general added, “I’m less supportive of things outside our competency.”

He said people were being assigned to jobs they weren’t trained for. He cited Air Force airmen being used to guard prisoners and to serve as drivers and cited one instance in which an Air Force surgeon was assigned typing chores after three days at her new post.

Others are being assigned to help the Army provide security in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Moseley said he didn’t mind the use of airmen as drivers as much as some of the other new duties usually performed by the Army, such as guarding prisoners.

He said the swap-outs come at a time when the Air Force’s budget is burdened, when there is little money for new aircraft and when maintaining an aging fleet of older planes, some of them going back to the 1950s and 1960s, is getting increasingly expensive.

As part of Bush’s troop buildup in order to try to secure Baghdad and nearby hot spots, there are currently about 146,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.

Of these, about 9,500 are Air Force. An additional 1,100 airmen are in Afghanistan, according to the Air Force. Roughly 24,100 Air Force personnel are stationed throughout the broader region.

With much of the action in Iraq now focused on neighborhood-to-neighborhood efforts to contain violence, there has been less attention on the roles of the Air Force and the Navy.

Moseley said the Air Force still has vital responsibilities in Iraq, including striking targets, surveillance and search and rescue missions.

Full article: http://www.militarytimes.com/news/20...elwoes_070424/


Is the line between the branches getting blurred? Is everyone really in the Army now? Is the issue that we're at war and whatever we need to do ... that's what we'll do? What are your thoughts?