I've long had an interest in "the thing left out"--important information that doesn't get covered. So, ever since I learned that there were plans for fourteen "enduring" bases (for the Air Force) in Iraq before the invasion ever began, I've been trying to keep up with what's going on on the four or five mega bases (each as big as the island of Manhattan) that have actually been built out, along with the bases in Kuwait and Qatar where our command and control facilities are.
It's not easy to keep track because most of the activities, other than recreational assets such as putting greens, seem to be "classified" and all reporters' stories have to be screened. But, during my latest tour through Google, I found a local handle, the announcement that Jim Forsythe wants to be the Republican candidate in the First Congressional District, that would tie some of what I've found out together.
Suffice it to say that I found the announcement that a former Air Force officer, who's retired to do business with his former employer, is looking to become one of those public officials that, in the conservative tradition, doles out public assets to make private individuals rich--all in the name of strengthening the nation, of course, of great interest. Because the Air Force apparently needs all the help it can get.
While the effort to sneak a big contract for refueling planes to Airbus instead of Boeing past the Congress has gotten lots of play, there are a whole lot of other signals that the Air Force is not faring well.
Recent stories that Air Force personnel are now going to be able to make suggestions about new uniforms on line, that a helicopter crew logged a major success when it plucked a lost skier off a mountain out west, that B-2 bombers are doing target practice over Guam, that the stealth fighters are going into storage and that Senator Craig of Idaho is suggesting that the Air Force start building nuclear power plants to energize its bases, all suggest that the service has lost its focus. Of course, the recent announcement, complete with TV ads, that the Air Force is expanding into a new domain (cyberspace) to insure its global dominance reinforces that perception. That its F-15 fighters are so corroded that they break apart in mid-flight isn't encouraging either.
As the Christian Science Monitor reports:
This year, for example, the Air Force is asking for $18 billion in "unfunded requirements." That's money the service seeks for new airplanes like the stealthy F-22 Raptor, which lists for about $143 million each. These are replacing the stock of F-15 Eagles, one of which broke apart over Missouri last fall.
Despite a really mundane agenda, as outlined in an activity report for March 11th,
In Iraq, an Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon conducted a show of force to deter enemy combatants from traveling near a particular location. The mission was reported as a success by a JTAC.
In total, coalition aircraft flew 51 close-air-support missions for Operation Iraqi Freedom. These missions integrated and synchronized coalition ground forces, protected key infrastructure, provided overwatch for reconstruction activities and helped to deter and disrupt terrorist activities.
Twenty-eight Air Force, Navy and Royal Australian Air Force intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft flew missions as part of operations in Iraq. Additionally, four Air Force and RAF aircraft performed tactical reconnaissance.
the Air Force wants to make a case for a significant overhaul,
But that's a tougher sell these days, as Congress attempts to ask broad questions about defense spending. Last week, the House Armed Services Committee released its "Roles and Missions" study, a preview of a broader initiative that the Pentagon has already begun. Some believe this will threaten the Air Force's traditional role. Now that it's making larger budgetary requests, the Air Force is, as Rep. Ike Skelton (D) of Missouri said last month, at "ground zero" for such a debate.
it's not unlikely that Jim Forsythe has been tasked to provide re-enforcement and try to unseat our own Representative Carol Shea-Porter.
Forsythe co-owns Cobalt Solutions LLC, an aerospace company known for its airflow-over-aircraft computations. Forsythe said he'll be taking a break from work soon to campaign full time.
[...]
He would go on to fly KC-135s out of France and Italy in support of operations in Bosnia, patrolled the no-fly zone in Iraq while based in Saudi Arabia and refueled transport planes headed to Somalia while stationed in Plattsburgh, N.Y., earning senior pilot wings with more than 1,500 flight hours.
With that background, the Air Force probably wishes it had him in Congress now. In any case, it seems that more attention to the Air Force is long past due,
Meanwhile, the Air Force performs what all agree is a vital role, albeit as a "silent partner," carrying more than 600 tons of cargo each day and ferrying service members across combat zones and to and from the war theater. It also performs tens of thousands of other airlift, refueling, and close-air support and precision-strike missions. Air Force officials like to point out that its aircraft have also been flying continuously over Iraq since 1990, when President Clinton began Operations Northern and Southern Watch. Officers worry that much of this gets forgotten in the current debate.
"We have learned from history that the first thing we have to do is secure the air," says Lt. Col. Robert Garland, an F-15 squadron commander at Langley. "Once you've secured that, then the ground or sea commander can do anything they want."
especially since that last claim from Lt. Col. Garland seems not to have been borne out by the experience in Iraq. It seems telling that while
(Earlier this month, the Pentagon released its annual assessment on China's military, with officials noting the country's "lack of transparency" as it buys high-tech weaponry and fighters and invests in submarines. Critics believe, however, that such reports amount to mere saber rattling and that some in the military are trying to create a false perception of China's military ambitions.)
the Air Force complains about a "lack of transparency" (a recent euphemism that's supposed to mean the same as "open" but doesn't) on China's part, it's very likely that the missile systems and radar installations and drones that the Air Force has been lugging in secret into Iraq has led to its budget for overt projects to be ignored. In other words, like Republicans in general, the Air Force is accusing others of acting as it does itself. I'm looking forward to hearing Jim Forsythe discuss all of that as we consider how the broken Air Force can be fixed.