I think we're skipping the cultural impact of a continuing draft. The modern professional military caste is inherently and nearly completely apart from the rest of America. It's based on mostly Southern rural and some Northern rural/inner-city volunteers that see themselves as apart from the rest of the country.
The draft certainly wasn't representative of the population and of course rich or connected people at the time skipped it, but it certainly was a lot closer than the modern military where poor people fight wars for rich politicians.
The Widening Gap Between Military and Society. James Fallows also talks about it fairly often.
The Air Force wouldn't let the Army have the fixed wing aircraft it wanted for close combat support so the Army invested in attack helicopters because it couldn't build the A-10 it would have preferred. That would continue ITTL. As for transport the Army doesn't trust the Air Force on that matter either, so if helicopters let them escape a little from the USAF they'll do it.
As with Representatives versus Senators where the enemy is not the other party but rather the other chamber (at least in bygone days), the enemy is not the USSR but rather the Air Force. There's a reason each branch always gets 1/3 of the defence budget.
The draft certainly wasn't representative of the population and of course rich or connected people at the time skipped it, but it certainly was a lot closer than the modern military where poor people fight wars for rich politicians.
The Widening Gap Between Military and Society. James Fallows also talks about it fairly often.
I'm kind of curious. What made the Army decide to get its own fleet of helos when the Air Force is often tasked with shuffling troops around?
Did the Air Force decide that rotary-wing aircraft were beneath their notice and let the Army have 'em
The Air Force wouldn't let the Army have the fixed wing aircraft it wanted for close combat support so the Army invested in attack helicopters because it couldn't build the A-10 it would have preferred. That would continue ITTL. As for transport the Army doesn't trust the Air Force on that matter either, so if helicopters let them escape a little from the USAF they'll do it.
As with Representatives versus Senators where the enemy is not the other party but rather the other chamber (at least in bygone days), the enemy is not the USSR but rather the Air Force. There's a reason each branch always gets 1/3 of the defence budget.
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