USAF Ad Campaign

That's what this initiative that the latest Letter to Airmen talks about is. And it's exactly what the Air Force needs. Let's cut through the B.S. and call this for what it is: a plea for money. As Secretary Wynne alludes to in his letter, because we do our job so well, the public takes the Air Force for granted, and this lack of awareness ultimately roots itself in the Hobson's choice the USAF was recently given: face cuts in several new weapons systems, including some replacing 50 year old aircraft, or lose 40,000 personnel. Keeping this type of budgeting up will result in a gutted Air Force that cannot defend the country. So we're doing something about it, by educating the public about the Air Force and what it's contributing to the GWOT. Good on Secretary Wynne and the rest of the leadership for trying something, but I suspect that we'll need a lot more than this.

That said, a grassroots effort IS necessary, because in the public's eye all the Air Force is good for is flashy jets and the Thunderbirds...and in the public's mind, this doesn't transfer well to the fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. So person to person education is necessary; I just hope that it doesn't stop here.