Seldomfitforpurpose, I can see his point, to a point. Control is not actually held until boot's are actually upon the deck. Leave aside CVF, the Air Force will always be at the pointy end of any Operation against a Nation State. From then on, it's a balance of force.
Just because the current tribal intervention needs lots of cloggies (Bill Tidy) doesn't mean the rest of the Air spectrum is reduntant. If we don't train (and equip) for all eventualies, we are truly buggered. The balance is the quest from Hell but, personally, I'd rather pay too much insurance than not enough. Air Defence capability is soon lost and hard to regain. In the meantime, the HELOs and Hercs are flogged to death.