Abolish the USAF?

[v1per]

Abolish the Air Force?

 

WWS pal Robert Farley (yes, the WWS does have some lefty pals) recently made his case in the American Prospect for abolishing the United States Air Force. The problem, he says, is that "what it does on its own--strategic bombing--isn't suited to modern warfare. What it does well--its tactical support missions--could be better managed by the Army and Navy." As far as it goes, Farley makes some good points about the Air Force's institutional short-comings that are hard to dispute. It's procurement oversight is atrocious, it's contribution to the war on terror is debatable--though I'd say its critics underestimate that contribution--and it's distaste for the close air support mission has long provided ammunition for its detractors. But taken as a whole, I think Farley falls well short of making the case.

 

Still, the article was meant to be provocative, and it certainly succeeds at that. Farley invited a number of bloggers to discuss the merits of his case, and has posted the responses here, including a couple of shots from yours truly, as well as David Axe of War is Boring, Jason Sigger of Armchair Generalist, John Noonan at OP-FOR, and Noah Shachtman and Sharon Weinberger the Danger Room.

 

The discussion is pretty lively, and I'd encourage our readers to go check it out. On the one hand, I was sympathetic to the rather conservative undercurrent of Farley's argument--that the Air Force was an enormous government bureaucracy that had outlived its usefulness. Still, I had far less faith in the premise of the piece--that strategic bombing isn't well suited to modern warfare. I wish it weren't the case, but I'm inclined to think that the Air Force may yet find itself called upon to wage a sustained strategic bombing campaign, and that only its ability to do so--it's deterrent effect--can offer reason to hope that such action won't be necessary. Farley doesn't once mention China in his piece, but I think any assessment of the Air Force's place in this country's national security strategy needs to address seriously the conventional threat China will pose in the medium- and long-term.

 

Farley also wrote a response to Robert Kaplan's recent piece in the Atlantic on America's declining naval power. While I have tremendous respect for Kaplan and do not dismiss his arguments, on this matter, I find myself more inclined to Farley's line of thinking.

Go check out some of the links, there's a lot of material from folks who are linked and quoted regularly here on the WWS--I'm sure readers will find it all very interesting.

 

Update: Bill Sweetman, the dean of aviation blogging, has taken a whack at Farley's argument, and the truth is that Sweetman knows more about these issues than all of the participants put together. His response is well worth your time.

 

What an idiot.

[Villicus]

Yup, he's a doofus.