On 24 Sep 2003 08:29:47 -0700, (Kirk Stant)
wrote:

Cub Driver wrote in message news

There was a feeling that the A-10s were painted olive drab because the
Air Force was piqued at being forced to acquire an aircraft that did
Army work. Any truth to that?

all the best -- Dan Ford
No truth at all. The color is a logical choice because the airplane is
designed to work low against the earth tones. You also see some of the
A-10s have been painted in grays. Does that mean they were expected to
do Navy work?

Dan,

One hears (and reads about) the supposed dislike of the A-10 by the
"Air Force". I wonder where it all started - I never heard anyone
badmouth the Hog during my 20 years in, and everybody who flew it
loved it. The bull**** about "the brass hates it because it isn't
supersonic" is really an insult to the professionalism of the Air
Force. Anyway, the AF wanted the A-10 to get a big piece of stopping
the WP in the Fulda Gap, as well as do CAS (which has always been an
AF mission). In no way was it "forced" on the AF. Now, as a single
role airplane, it is naturally more at risk whenever budget cuts are
in the air, but there is really no way around that - when you are
limited on numbers, your airplane have to be able to do multiple
tasks, and as great as the Hog is for CAS and BAI, it still really
can't do OCA or DCA (well, maybe, against some of the Air Forces out
there!!!).

Couldn't have said it better myself. In fact, I think in the past I
have said it myself. The idea that the AF is "anti-CAS" or that there
is some sort of elitist panache to supersonic is flat wrong.

I think the late Jeff Ethell had a lot to do with some of the bogus
rumors about military aviation. He was great when talking about his
experiences flying WW2 warbirds, but a lot of what he said about
current combat aircraft was often wrong - I cringe when I hear some of
the things he says on Discovery Wings!

While Jeff did some pretty good historical research ("One Day in a
Long War" is excellent), I've often wondered how an aficionado becomes
an expert without actually military experience. Regardless of the
sincerity and conscientiousness of the research, it's simply a fact
that someone in the civilian world is going to be "out of the loop"
when it comes to tactics development and classified widgetry.