eli5: Why does the US Military have airplanes in multiple branches (Navy, Marines etc) as opposed to having all flight operations handled by the Air Force exclusively?
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Each branch can have different objectives in an overall mission and only a finite number of aircraft to go around… The air force will prioritize eliminating opposing aircraft and AA defenses, but the army still wants close air support of advancing forces at the same time. If the air force has all the assets you will have to wait until they decide they can spare some planes for what you consider important. In a battle with near peer air forces, you may have a hard time getting “spare” planes to support your branch.
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