I hope this means accelerated funding and deployment of the F-22 and
F-35, but I fear otherwise.

Why would you fear otherwise? If the Air Force winds up grounding a large
enough number of F-15's, they may not have an option *but* to increase
production.

Because the draw-down of our Air Force since the end of the Cold War has
been steep and continuous. Some are even suggesting that it be re-combined
with the army, since it has become prohibitively expensive to maintain it as
a separate force at its current size.

This type of precipitous disarmament happened after World War I, and as a
result we were woefully unprepared for what followed. Guys like Curtis
Lemay made sure that the same thing did not happen after World War II -- but
all the visionaries of that generation are dead, leaving a new generation --
apparently ignorant of history -- to repeat the mistakes of the past.

Sure, it's a different time, you might say, and we've got satellites to keep
an eye on things, now -- but IMHO maintaining a modern Air Force is cheap
insurance, and one of the few things that our Federal Government is actually
*supposed* to be doing with our tax dollars.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"