Valid point, Darvan, and I suppose if we consider that CAOC/JFAC/A3 experience is essential, then non-aircrew are unlikely to get a look in. However, my contention is that such experience is essential for the warfighting commander (ie DCom Ops) but not for the strategic commander (ie CAS).
interesting point about command experience. The average aircrew officer will not directly command significant (ie more than say 20) subordinates until they are a wg cdr. His engineer oppo could have commanded 100+ in his very first tour and as an OC Eng could be in charge of 1500.
However, I’m not trying to turn this into an inter-branch p###ing contest. We all want the best man for the job, it just would be nice if the net was cast a bit wider.