War in Iraq shifts Air Force into ground roles

[True_Blue]

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Straining to find ground troops to maintain its force levels in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon has begun deploying thousands of Air Force personnel to combat zones in new jobs as interrogators, prison sentries and gunners on supply trucks.

The Air Force years ago banked its future on state-of-the-art fighter jets and billion-dollar satellites. Yet the service that long has avoided being pulled into ground operations is finding that its people -- rather than its weapons -- are what the Pentagon needs most as it wages a prolonged war against a low-tech insurgent enemy.

Individual branches have spent decades carving out their unique roles within the U.S. military, and Air Force officials insist that the redeployment of its airmen is temporary. Nonetheless, the reassignment of Air Force personnel comes as another sign that the Pentagon is struggling to meet the demands of what military officials have begun calling "the long war."

As part of the effort, more than 3,000 Air Force troops are being assigned new roles. And airmen are being dispatched to combat zones for longer tours of duty -- as many as 12 months rather than four.
more....
http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/5662062.html

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

1. So much for join the Air Force or the AIR NATIONAL GUARD to avoid

combat... I'm sure they'll do the same with the Navy also, if not already...

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. they already are

[Toots]

19. Usually the Air Force does not avoid Combat..just Ground Combat

You know grunt work. When ever the Grunt gets into trouble the first people they call on is Air Support and Artillary support. Those guys in the air are first on the spot for medivac and close support yet get little or no credit for their efforts. I would venture a guess that most pilots receive much much more fire than the typical Infantry soldier. They just get to fly away from the shooting when the bullets are gone.

[tabasco]

22. That's a pretty bold guess.

Let me be the first to tell you you're wrong.

No offense, but in a low-intensity conflict, USAF pilots receive little or no fire.

Army chopper pilots receive more fire, but, like you say, get to leave after dropping off the infantry. The infantry gets to remain, and, for them, the bullets do not stop.

If you don't believe me, look at the caualty rates by service and specialty. The casualty rate for infantry soldiers is the highest of any militay specialty.

I don't believe we've lost any USAF pilots from hostile fire in Iraq.

[MildyRules]

23. They get SHOT AT

but it's kinda hard to hit an F-16 or an A-10 screaming past at 300-450 knts with a rifle. BTW, check out Capt Kim Campbell's (AKA Killer Chick) A-10 photos and tell me they don't take fire.

http://www.strangemilitary.com/content/item/109862.html

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

24. Um.. won't debate, but I'm talking more the enlisted Airman, who up until

now was a lot less likely than his Army and USMC counterpart to be an infantry rifleman.

Any kind of military pilot is among the most dangerous job of any kind that you can have.

[Journeyman]

2. Great. . . more ill-trained troops for the slaughter. . .

n/t

[TexasLinda]

3. I wondered when this would start.

The Pentagon's "blue to green" program (getting Air Force troops to transfer to the Army) was spectacularly unsuccessful, so they're just going to take the troops anyway. What, are they running out of highly paid mercenaries? Or are they just running low on money (Iraq rebuilding slows as U.S. money for projects dries up
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2005-10-09-iraq-rebuilding-cover_x.htm?csp=N009)? It's been a long time since I went through Air Force basic training -- how much combat training are they getting now?

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. but, but, but the back of the military is not broken

I hope my niece does not reup when her time comes

[rfkrfk]

6. the Aur Force is looking for things to do, because off decreasing...

demand for their bomb delivery serices

[MADem]

7. Holy shit, next thing you know, we'll be parking the fleet and sending in

the Navy...

[Scurrilous]

8. The end result of this policy:

Airman killed in Iraq

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123011980



<snip>

"An improvised explosive device killed a female Airman during a convoy mission supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Airman 1st Class Elizabeth Jacobson, 21, was providing convoy security Sept. 28 near Camp Bucca, Iraq, when the vehicle she was riding in was hit by an improvised explosive device.

The Riviera Beach, Fla., native was assigned to the 17th Security Forces Squadron at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas. Airman Jacobson had been in the Air Force for two years and had been deployed to Iraq for more than three months.

She is the first female Airman killed in the line of duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom."

[saigon68]

11. This is only the TIP OF THE ICEBERG

Thousands more WILL DIE

before this MADNESS and Drive to feed HALLIBURTON is over </Rant>

[leftchick]

12. my niece is an Airman 1st Class

I hope she won't have to go. :(

[ninkasi]

17. I hope she won't, either...

I have a granddaughter who will be 21 next year. I'm happy to say she has absolutely no intention of joining the military, nor does her 19 year old brother. My youngest two granddaughters, cousins, are both 12. I have a 1 year old great-granddaughter. The thought of any of these beautiful children being in that hellhole is unthinkable.

It's because I love my own so much that I am so bitterly opposed to this travesty of a war. It's illegal and immoral. Whether American or Iraqi, the ones dying are somebody's loved ones, as precious to them as mine are to me. The men who wanted this sit in gilded splendor, gorging themselves with riches while the others die so that they can stuff themselves.

There is a great evil in the world, and it squats in our White House. He has surrounded himself with others who are evil, and greedy, and they need to be in prison, all of them.

[MildyRules]

18. Depends on her AFSC

Many will have to go.

[JesterCS]

9. as much as this stinks

I hope someone I know has to go. He loads and unloads planes for a living in the AF. He deserves it. Long story.

[MildyRules]

13. That's real kind of you.

[truthisfreedom]

10. temporary, like every other temporary thing in this war. those brave kids

are going to die on the ground.

[cassiepriam]

14. The death rate will go up if they are not trained for this type of work?

[MildyRules]

15. Most of the people who are serving as gunners

ARE trained for this. The AF is using their security forces AFSC for that type of work. Drivers are just that; Air Force drivers. And interrogators are AF linguists. None of these folks are being sent to do something for which they are not trained.

[tuckessee]

16. This reminds me of the Luftwaffe field divisions

that the Germans threw into battle in the latter days of WW2 as they scrapped the bottom of an already empty barrel.

Can anyone still say with a straight face that conscription is not looming somewhere in the near future????

[Tight_rope]

20. Well...all those rich kids that went into the Airforce...

that thought fighting a war from the air would be so cool....You dont have to get dirty. Well they are SOL now...It's time to see some rich kids put up their lives for this country. After all many of them will try to run for public office one day, using the excuse in their campaign that they served their country.

[MildyRules]

21. WTF?

Where did you get the idea that the AF is comprised of "rich kids?"