Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley does not care what aircraft delivers close-air support (CAS) and trusts the Air Force to decide which platform is best suited to the mission.
“As a guy who has been in his share of firefights, the only thing I care about is the effect on the target,” Milley said June 23 at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.
“I don’t give a rat’s ass what platform brings it in …I could care less if it’s a B-52, if it’s a B-1 bomber, an F-16, an F-15, an A-10. I don’t care if the thing is delivered by carrier pigeon. I want the enemy taken care of,” he added.
Congress has shut down repeated attempts by the Air Force to divest the A-10 as a way to save cash and funnel it and maintenance personnel toward other priorities like the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The Warthog was given a reprieve this fiscal year as it is shouldering much of the ground-attack burden in the U.S.-led coalition campaign against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.
The F-35 is destined to take over the close air support mission currently performed by the A-10, but precision guided weapons allow other aircraft like the B-1, B-5-2, F-15 and F-16 to perform CAS as well. Milley said he trusts the Air Force to continue to provide fire support for ground troops as it has always done.
“The fact of the matter is when push comes to shove and bullets are actually flying and there are peoples’ lives at stake the United States Air Force never failed me and has never failed the Army,” he said. “I don’t care what the platform is, the Air Force delivers. They deliver on time and on target …and they’re very, very good at it. So, I have enormous confidence that they will make the right decisions on the platform and it’s not really my place to say this platform or that platform.”
The Air Force is building a draft requirements document for a CAS aircraft that could eventually replace the A-10 as an aircraft dedicated to that role.