Bye-Bye Birdies - Professor proposed abolishing USAF

[N2erk]

Thought this might get some comment- UK professor proposes abolishing the U.S. Air Force | The Kentucky Kernel (http://kykernel.com/2014/03/11/uk-professor-proposes-abolishing-the-u-s-air-force/)

Nothing to do with me mate, I'm airframes/engines/avionics etc. :)

[DITYIWAHP]

Or alternatively....

Academic fails to grasp that complex systems cannot always be simplified by changing the colour scheme (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unification_of_the_Canadian_Forces)

[racedo]

In other news,
"Drone crashes on UK Professor, Black Omegas seen leaving area".....2 incidents are not connected and any claim they are we will visit you.:E

[Sun Who]

Robert Farley is actually an assistant professor, a junior academic and has a well established maritime agenda. His argument in this instance is, in my opinion, is facile and subject to the easy ripost that there is nothing special about sea power or land power either - but that's not the point.

Sun.

[N2erk]

You mean 2 Brit ex-pats don't have a chance against the might of the USAF??
And re the CAF- our armed forces looked good in their beltless green 'coca-cola driver-like' uniforms. I just wish the re-constituted RCAF knew how to wear a 'wedgie' hat properly!:rolleyes:

[Flash2001]

Glad I got out before 69. IIRC we lost the Cap, Field Service before that though.

After an excellent landing etc...

[Stuff]

“There is no special thing about things that move in the air that means the other forces can’t do it”

Um, yes there is, ever heard of the 3rd dimension?

In other news, bit-part nobody makes ludicrous statement about something he really doesn't understand in order to gain media attention as part of a cheap publicity stunt.

Nothing to see here, move along.

[hoodie]

Um, yes there is, ever heard of the 3rd dimension?

Yep. A submariner told me about it once. :E

[LowObservable]

I'm trying to read the book, but the basic argument seems to be that Clausewitz didn't see the need for an independent air force, so that settles it.

The fact that Claus-O popped his clogs shortly after the Rainhill Trials is apparently irrelevant. As is the fact that the record of his recommended kind of war (invade the enemy's lands and disarm his forces) has, in the industrial age, been mixed at best, up to and including the recent SWA unpleasantness.

But then I don't have a PhD so WTFDIK.

[Whenurhappy]

Slight tangent - but the term 'professor' in Commonwealth academia is a grade - a rank, if you will. The progression is something like this:

Junior lecturer
Lecturer
Senior lecturer
Assistant Professor
Professor.
On retirement they can be appointed Professor Emeritus

Some universities have a variation on this - using terms such as 'Reader' etc. However, in the US system (and I don't know about the other America), all university lecturers refer to themselves as 'professors'. The ex Black Watch and ex FCO diplomat MP Rory Stewart referred to himself as having been a Harvard Professor. In reality, he had a semester or two as a visiting junior lecturer.

Just thought I'd mention this.

[Willard Whyte]

In a sense he is correct, whatever uniform you wear makes no difference to how you do the job; would you really be any worse at your job if you woke up one morning and were told you were now in the army or navy?

However his argument falls right down when he suggests that

“The Air Force also has a history of letting costs get out of control,” he said. “When that happens, they have to cut how many things they can buy.”

USS Gerald R. Ford was estimated to cost $8Bn in 2008, in 2013 was estimated to be $12.8Bn, and it is now possible completion may be delayed 2 years beyond its initial 2016 plan. Can't imagine the cost will remain stable throughout.

The Marine-led Osprey program his been similarly affected by cost escalation, not to mention timescale.

No idea about tanks and choppers, but one supposes that as M1 Abrams is likely to remain in service for some time, either by being upgraded or replaced on a 1 for 1 basis, and likewise the AH-64E is also a development of an extant vehicle, then development and production costs are likely to remain better under control than new from the ground up designs.

Whilst it's true that many USAF programs have got ever more extensive and delayed, they, for the main, been intended at least to represent huge capability leaps over their predecessors. I would also suppose that F-35 would been significantly cheaper had it not been hobbled by a requirement for STOVL.

[ian16th]

Is the report by the Smut's Committee available on-line?

[Occasional Aviator]

For those of you who haven't already worked it out, UK in "UK professor" in this context actually stands for University of Kentucky. Any similarity to European nations is purely coincidental.

[langleybaston]

Um, yes there is, ever heard of the 3rd dimension?

submarines, anyone?