No offense guys, but the services look at air power differently as well.

As a Marine FAC, I know that aircraft capabilities are included in operational planning from the beginning. When we go to execute a mission, we know in advance that we are going to use surface fires for this target, and air fires for that. When I'm talking to an aircraft, he is there to support me in achieving my objective, which may be achieved by destroying the target.

From the Army perspective, it seems as if CAS is something that is a last resort. Uh-oh, the grunts are in trouble, arty can't reach, better call for air support. Kind of cliche', but true. Part of the problem is that they don't understand what air provides, and you can't use an asset appropriately if you don't know or understand what it does for you. They don't know what air provides because its not an organic asset.

From the Air Force perspective, it seems as though the JTAC on the ground is there to facilitate the pilot dropping the bomb and destroying the target. To the pilot, the target is just a target that needs serviced, and he most likely does not know or understand what objective the grunts are actually trying to achieve.

Its a different mindset.