The Air Force is set to shrink its elite corps of tactical air control party airmen by nearly half over the next three years, Air Force Times has learned.<\/p>\n
Downsizing the cohort is among the Air Force\u2019s latest steps to pivot toward the Indo-Pacific after 20 years of more traditional air-ground wars in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
TACPs deploy with Army and special operations units and act as liaisons between forces on the ground and those overhead. Cutting those airmen would significantly limit the number of officers and enlisted airmen who are trained as battlefield scouts to plan attacks and call in airstrikes on the front lines.<\/p>\n
Around 3,700 officers, enlisted airmen and civilians currently serve in the TACP workforce, Air Force spokesperson Maj. Patrick Gargan said Monday. If approved by Congress as part of the Pentagon\u2019s annual budget requests, that would fall to around 2,130 positions by 2025 \u2014 a 44% cut.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Department of the Air Force continues to work hard to create a force of airmen and [Space Force] guardians with the right mix of skills to meet the mission requirements today and address future pacing challenges,\u201d Gargan said. \u201cWe\u2019ll continue to manage our personnel programs thoughtfully and deliberately, recognizing that people are our most valuable resource.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, the service argues that the field command-and-control skills TACPs offer will \u201cbecome even more imperative\u201d in competition with other world powers like Russia and China.<\/p>\n
Most active duty TACPs are part of air support operations squadrons that fall under the 93rd Air Ground Operations Wing at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia; and the 435th AGOW at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. The Air National Guard employs TACPs as well.<\/p>\n
…<\/p>\n
The Air Force is shrinking its workforce overall to repurpose funds for higher priorities as it gets rid of hundreds of outdated aircraft.<\/p>\n
Among those airframes is the A-10C Thunderbolt II attack plane, or \u201cWarthog,\u201d with which TACPs work closely to protect soldiers and other ground troops in combat. The Air Force wants to dump all of those planes by 2029 and use F-35 Lightning II fighter jets for the close air support mission instead.<\/p>\n
Troops in Contact, an advocacy group for the close air support community, opposes the Air Force\u2019s plan to retire the Warthogs, arguing that the changes will \u201ccost lives\u201d and \u201crisks losing battles.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGround troops would be supported, if at all, by [close air support] amateurs in a small, expensive fleet of fragile aircraft that are far less effective,\u201d the group said on its website.<\/p>\n
Air Force Special Operations Command and Air Combat Command, which oversees TACPs, have started to rethink the role of their airmen in competition with world powers. Troops in Contact argues a robust group of TACPs would still be relevant in conflicts with Russia or China.<\/p>\n
\u201cEurope\u2019s low weather and missile threats drive low-altitude standoff tactics that a team of well-trained TACPs and A-10s were built for,\u201d the group said. \u201cA 50% cut in TACPs will mean no support below the brigade level. Coordination with ground forces will be abysmal.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the Indo-Pacific, the group added, TACPs would be \u201cinvaluable\u201d to soldiers and Marines as they secure island territory.<\/p>\n
\u201cA properly manned TACP force can provide critical [communication] nodes forward,\u201d the group said. \u201cThis not only increases the survivability of \u2026 fighters and bombers, but it provides CAS expertise and island defense in a theater that will need it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
More at the source.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Much like the USMC getting rid of their tanks and cutting helicopter squadrons, this decision by … USAF looks to cut TACPs almost in half<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[220,187,189],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-140174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-floggings-will-continue-until-morale-improves","category-air-force","category-defense-cuts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/664"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=140174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140174\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=140174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=140174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=140174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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