Clipper, you pretty much hit it on the head. With current manpower related costs (read: healthce), the AF has come to the conclusion that it cannot afford to keep current manning levels and recapitalize at a useful rate. It has chosen to cut the former in favor of the latter. The real kicker here is that even if the Air Force realizes all the savings it expects, recapitalization will continue at a sluggish pace at best. For instance, it will take decades just to get 150 new tankers in service. Air Force leadership of the past 15 years has utterly failed. IMHO, the Air Force will fail to fufill what it considers its basic core capabilities within the next decade. Our leadership has needed to inform our civilian leaders of the impending disaster for years, and they have not. Welcome to the train wreck. The lucky ones are being paid to get out of the way.