More Mission, Less Air Force

摘要

Just last year, there was hope among senior Air Force officials that drawdowns in Iraq and Afghanistan would allow USAF to catch its breath and rebuild its force. That has not panned out. The Air Force finds itself as busy and globally engaged today as ever. At the start of 2014, few predicted the rise of the ISIS extremists in Syria and Iraq; President Obama himself referred to ISIS as "JV jihadists." Aircraft as diverse as the A-10 and F-22 have since gone to war to prevent ISIS fighters from sweeping almost unchecked through huge portions of the Middle East. Meanwhile, during Fiscal 2014, the Air Force budget declined by 9 percent from the previous year.