re: Budget Cuts Leave 101st Airborne Crippled

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Did you miss the pet about 2/3 of all naval aircraft being grounded?

Have you not heard they're actually having to canibilze retired museum aircraft because they can't get parts elsewhere?

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No, I didn't miss that part. My first post addresses that. The units are still combat capable. There's a lot of consolidation going on but that doesn't mean that they're falling apart. There's more than enough naval air units to maintain a strike fighter fleet at sea.

The navy will be bolstered when the 35s all come on-line. It's not so much of a deteriorating situation as it is a gap in between generations of aircraft. It's more severe at the reserve levels where the legacy hornets are having to be part mined to maintain capable aircraft. Units flying rhinos are having problems as well but not as bad. That's why the navy is/will likely order more rhinos to fill the gap between it and the 35.