The function of a fighter aircraft is to achieve Air Superiority for our forces. And Air Superiority is absolutely essential to carry out any successful battle plan. Without Air Superiority, attack aircraft, and even cruise missiles will have some greater difficulty in reaching their target. Without Air Superiority, CAS is nearly impossible, troop movement is severely restricted, SAR is unlikely, reconnaissance is limited, and seaborne-craft become more vulnerable.
But in every conflict for the past half century, Air Superiority has been mostly handed to us on a silver platter, either by extremely limited number and capability of enemy fighter aircraft, or by the very nature of asymmetric warfare. Indeed, the US has not faced a credible air-to-air threat, either in capability or in numbers, for nearly the last 40 – 50 years!
But that certainly does not lessen the overriding importance, and the absolute necessity of Air Superiority. And it is important to note that our past and present, mostly uncontested Air Superiority, while key to all other facets of battle, might not always be the case in future conflicts.
Also, Air Superiority is not just an Air Force 'thing'. Witness the Marine's Joe Foss and Pappy Boyington, or the Navy's "Butch" O'Hare and David McCampbell. It was the success of the Marianna Turkey Shoot and Leyte Gulf decimating the Japanese Zero's that gave us the Air Superiority necessary to land on Iwo Jima and Okinawa and to end the war. Indeed, we even today respect and revere some of our enemy's fighter pilots who fought for Air Superiority – the Richthofen's and Galland' and Hartman's – men who in fact unfortunately killed many of our own men.
Time and technology have melded missions, and recent history may have seemed to obviate the fighter's mission. But the absolute necessity of Air Superiority – and the fighter pilots necessary to achieve that superiority in contested skies - always will remain. The often arrogant and obnoxious, prima dona fighter pilot may be easy to dislike and denigrate. . . . That is, until you need some serious fighter cover in seriously contested skies, filled with enemy fighters protecting their home airspace and intent upon killing you, to complete your important mission and return home safely.
[Disclaimer: As I have posted before here, when I say "fighter pilot," I often mean "fighter crew." I believe in the two-man foxhole as a superior form of fighting. And I know for a fact Cunningham would never been a fighter "Ace" without Driscoll. Furthermore, I have seen some of the best "fighter RIO's" talk a 'grape' pilot through a serious engagement, and win! (I owe my old RO's that disclaimer, since without one or two of them, I wouldn't be here to post this.
)]
