“Delusional”

New review of Grounded up at Army Press:

Farley contends that the Air Force is not useless—merely an overpriced attractor for those who would throw around America’s weight on the cheap. He lays out a plan for integrating air resources into the Army and U.S. Navy; cites instances where reintegration has occurred, primarily Canada; and argues forcefully, if not convincingly, for the abolition of the free-standing air arm.

There is probably no real chance that any of the author’s suggestions will come to fruition. The Air Force lobby is quite strong, and its contractors are spread throughout the myriad congressional districts. Still, Grounded does raise interesting questions, challenges the status quo, and should give pause to those who might be inclined to assume that the Army of today is for now and always, ideal and immutable. Unstated is the question: If the Air Force can lose independent status, why not the Army and Navy too?

This last is a key point. I revisited this idea not long ago in a National Interest article, but it bears repeating that eliminating the Air Force would have far reaching cultural and structural effects on the Army and the Navy. We can imagine, for example, an aviator rising to the level of Chief of Staff of the Army, which is a thought that could give pause to some parochially-minded reformers.