A Quadrennial Defense Review concept which threatened to dramatically restructure and weaken the Air Force seems to have been beaten down—at least for now. Pentagon officials say that the notion called for taking virtually all fighter aviation from the Air Force and giving it to a consolidated Navy-Marine Corps air arm, leaving USAF with responsibility for all the "heavies"—bombers, airlifters, tankers, intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance aircraft—and space systems. The idea was called, by some, "the big-airplane Air Force." The concept was not part of the original terms of reference ground rules for the QDR but was introduced last summer by lieutenants of acting Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon R. England. (See "On Rumsfeld's Terms,'"June 2005, p. 50.) The idea was justified as one of many "what-if" scenarios, intended to stimulate thinking on ways to eliminate service redundancies. It was seen by its proponents as a natural follow-up to England's earlier consolidation of Navy and Marine Corps fighter forces.
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