Originally Posted by paulcg77

You're right but I think there' s a distinct difference between how the navy treats aviation versus how the army treats aviation. Naval aviation is given its own priority and isn't competing with the air force - we've got our own C130's, our own 737 transports, etc., and aviators in VP, VR and VQ squadrons (P-8, C-37. C-40, C-130, EP-3, E-6) never touch the blue water navy, never have to do underway cruises, never get to find their sea legs, pretty much don't touch water at all their entire careers in the navy unless they request a non-flying u/w tour which is pretty much just to get the sea service ribbon. Even in the USMC, where every marine is a rifleman and marine pilots still get infantry training in TBS, there is no one size fits all "you better blend in" aviator envy with the rest of their branch the way that the army tries to make their aviators lose their own identities. The way the army treats its aviators is definitely unique among the branches.

The Air Force also seems to have it out a little bit for the army - I remember when ya'll were going to get those baby hercs (C-27's) back in the late 2000's and an army unit even started training on them in a simulator and took delivery of a few airframes, but the AF came in and pretty much took them from you overnight, arguing to politicians that it was their job to have that role, not yours. That was BS. I'm happy you've gotten a few back recently, after the AF had them for a while and then gave most of them to the USCG. I feel like army aviation is always getting the short end of every stick and it isn't right.