Above All. The new Air Force slogan.

[afgeo4]

How about a new slogan that is more relevant to the modern battle

"Should have joined the Army"  or  "You will do nothing you see in this commercial"  or  "Visit Iraq lately"   or  "In today RIF'ed tomorrow"

Seriously, I hate to say it, but the AF is doing more direct support missions for the other services.  Driving a truck through the streets of Baghdad in an Army convoy was most likely NOT what Airman Snuffy signed up for.  Manning POL sites and being a gas attendant for a Marine unit was (again) something Airman Joe did not sign up for.  The AF has changed in its mission.  Sure they still have missiles and airplanes, but most of the work they do today is support work.  It is not the AF of 10 years ago.

Why so negative Mikey? The AF has always supported other branches. Unless we're fighting a nation with a superb air force (and I don't know of one aside from Russia or China), there's not much dog fighting to be done (and wasn't 10 years ago, so I don't know what your point is).

The bulk of AF work right now is close air support with AC-130U, A/O-10, F-15E, F-16C; intel work being done with AWACS, Rivet Joint, Compass Call, and JSTARS; and of course strategic and tactical airlift with C-130, C-17 and C-5. Add to that refueling assets of KC-130, KC-10 and KC-135 and CSAR/SOF with HH-60, HH-53, and C-130 and you have a full array of missions that the Air Force trains, equips and deploys to perform.

Visit www.af.mil for more details.

What were you expecting? F-16 vs. MiG-29 dog fighting at 20,000ft? This is real war, not the movies.

[mikeylikey]

^ Not negative.  Just what I see on a daily basis.  I have a good Friend who went AF and several months later was applying for the Blue to Green program because the AF let him go as he was one of the few unlucky Lt's to be in the bottom 1/3 of all Lt's.

I have had Airman drive trucks for my unit in Iraq, I have watched the AF take on a bigger support role since 2001.  Face it, the AF is transitioning, thats why we are creating "Joint Basis" all across the country.  Moving the transport assets of the AF to Army and Marine posts is soon to be the norm. 

I visited Fort Lewis/McChord AFB (soon to be Joint Base Lewis-McChord) and saw the transformation that has begun.  The AF is loosing its medical services to the Army, as well as its (number 2 ranked Commissary in the country to the one on Lewis). 

If the Army would just absorb the AF transport and refueling assets we would be able to consolidate a whole lot and that would equal less $$ the taxpayers have to dish out!  (but I know that will never happen, so no need to let me know that!)

[afgeo4]

I know you're Army Mikey, but please... look at it from both sides sometimes.


First of all, USAF trucks don't have Army drivers. USAF has an AFSC (MOS) called transportation. That's people who drive cars, trucks, buses, etc. They do their job not just during peace time, but during war as well. Second, just like y'all get to do jobs you're not assigned (such as most Field Arty doing MP work now), we get to do it too. It's not because USAF sucks. It's because the Army doesn't have enough troops to maintain the operational tempo that's been assigned to them.

The blue to green... it happens... to all branches. It is a direct result of a scaled down budget. The money's going to USA and USMC right now because THIS war is being primarily fought by grunts. Same things happened back during the cold war, but it was the Army taking cuts and soldiers switching green to blue. Expect more of it since USAF weapons systems need less and less people to operate and maintain them.

After everything else, please remember that 99.9% of airmen perform their regular AFSC duties, not some alternate work. Also, most airmen deploy for up to 120 days and not 18 months.

On the topic of JFB McChord AFB/Ft. Lewis... I don't know who's going to be running the show there, but they're closing up the commissary on McChord because you only need one and the one at Lewis was chosen. Same thing is happening at Joint Forces Base McGuire/Dix/Lakehurst. You don't need 2 BXs, 2 Commissaries and the like. Btw... that base will be under command of Air Force personnel.

[♠SARKID♠]

I just saw an AF commercial with the "Above All" slogan; first one I've seen on TV.  It was targeted at promoting the new cyberspace aspect and I have to say, it didn't make that big of an impact on me.  What did make an impact was something on the AF website.

There was a survey on the airforce video page asking if people thought that cyberwar was a possibility.  84% of people thought it was.  I think its a good look into the future of our world and the wars that we will wage within it.

Think about this -

AIR
This is the embodiment of the AF's classic role.  In a shooting war, we dominate the airspace as we always have and will.  When it comes to the nitty gritty "what's our combat role", its air power.

SPACE
Most people don't realize that the Air Force's space program is larger than NASA.  We have many assets up in orbit and somebody needs to protect them.  All world communications are, at some point, routed through satellites.  Think of the damages an entity could cause if they started shooting satellites out of the sky!  The recent satellite shoot down by the Navy and the Chinese satellite incident show that this is a possibility.  Remember, if a military has the capability, they're going to use it eventually.  Having the AF protecting the dark sky is a mission I support.

CYBERSPACE
Everything is digital nowadays.  Top secret documents, infrastructure control, communications, economy, identity, banks, everything is digital.  And to me, digital is synonymous with vulnerable.  Just recently, Russia has been accused of attacking the country of Estonia via cyber-warfare.  If Russia is behind the act, it will be the first known case of one state attacking another on this scale.  What happens when this plays a role in a full scale war?  What would happen if an enemy state took control of our power, utilities, communications, etc.  They would have us by the scruff of our necks and theres nothing we would be able to do about it.  How does it feel knowing that at a single mouse click every bank account in the country could be wiped clean?  Or that every digital item labeled "top secret" could be stolen, exposing our weaknesses and allowing easy exploitation of our national security?  I go back to the space argument: guess how course corrections are sent to satellites - digitally.  Click, click, down it goes.  What really perks my interest about cyberwar is that it can be fought anonymously.  We could be attacked, and we wouldn't know where to retaliate.  Some might think I'm being paranoid or exaggerating the situation, but I think my arguments are right on the money.  I'm glad that the Air Force has taken this mission under their wing (haha, airplane humor) protecting our most vulnerable weak spot.

AIR | SPACE | CYBERSPACE
I'm all for it.

[SJFedor]

How does it feel knowing that at a single mouse click every bank account in the country could be wiped clean? 

If they wanna go ahead and do that to all the credit card companies, I'm sure not that many people would mind. Just let me know the day prior 

[♠SARKID♠]

How does it feel knowing that at a single mouse click every bank account in the country could be wiped clean? 

If they wanna go ahead and do that to all the credit card companies, I'm sure not that many people would mind. Just let me know the day prior 

I'm with ya there! 

I didn't even put down the whole list of things I thought.  Its the economic ones that scare me the most.  What happens when the banks are wiped clean, the stock exchange is fragged, and the economy collapses like a senior member gone too many days without donuts?

[JohnKachenmeister]

How does it feel knowing that at a single mouse click every bank account in the country could be wiped clean? 

If they wanna go ahead and do that to all the credit card companies, I'm sure not that many people would mind. Just let me know the day prior 

I was hoping that was going to happen on Y2K.  I'm still trying to pay down the Visa I loaded up!