The last two American Aces

[USNAviator]

These two men might be Americas last Air Aces. Randy Cunningham (Navy) and Steve Ritchie (Air Force) each had 5 kills during Vietnam. In fact Ritchie is truly the last man to be recognized as an Ace

As of 2010, no American has reached the Ace status

Unless the status quo changes, they will probably be the last Aces. While ACM is still being taught in flight school and places such as Top Gun, there is no nation on this earth that can put into the air the quantity nor quality of the US

It will be interesting down the road to see if Marine Air will be eliminated for budget reasons. It may end up that the Air Force will fly cover for the Army while the Navy will fly cover for the Corps

[Garyius]

Cutting Marine air would be the death of the Corps. The navy's first, second, and thrid missions are protecting their carriers and the other ships. Willingness to support the Marines with close or deep air strikes would be low, as is ability to do so.

With the air elements, the government should just fold the Corps into the army. The air force does the same poor job of providing air support as the navy will, and it is silly to have two armies if neither is special in terms of structure or ability.