SsgtC
Banned
The other part is, when you've got a MEU afloat, they can be forward deployed near trouble spots. If/when the President orders them in, they can go now. There's no waiting around for the Air Force to find a suitable base and deploy a fighter wing, or for the Navy to get a carrier into position. We've got our own organic air support, no need to wait. It's flexibility and response time.I understand the history and doctrine behind it, I'm just not convinced it is necessary going forward in terms of the way the US military deploys and fights now. I realize this is not going to change either.
The funny thing is that during Guadalcanal you had USAAF P-400s providing CAS to Marines while USMC Wildcats handled the air-to-air fight because that was the best allocation of resources from a standpoint of airframe capabilities. I realize that is something of a unique and isolated situation but from a standpoint of service cultures, it's kind of mind boggling.