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?
In: Other
For a more ELI5 answer…
The US military has a lot of planes that do a lot of different things. Because of that, it’s easier to keep them with their branches who need to use them for their specific mission.
Just like how it’s best for everyone to have their own clothes in their room. We could keep them all in one room in one pile, but it’s better everyone keeps them in their own room in their drawers and closets.
That way you don’t have siblings taking each others clothes, not even the important ones, it would just suck if you didn’t have any socks.
For a slightly less ELI5…
Because there’s so many planes, you’re going to have divid the massive all encompassing air branch into different departments or whatever. There’s also competing demands and no one wants to do without. Famously the Air Force doesn’t like doing close combat support, preferring strategic operations and interdiction.
You also just have highly specialized air frames, like those that can land on carriers and survive being launched off catapults on carriers.
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