eagl, dropping ordnance with laser guided accuracy from 20,000 feet is not fighting...and when a pilot needs to be rescued, it's the marines, army or navy that goes in...on the ground.
with the exception of the airforce special operations command, the airforce does not train ground troops in advanced infantry combat...they get a medal for just being able to fire a weapon down range, hitting the target is optional.
Mostly you're full of it (ie. completely wrong). My base has deployed a few hundred USAF members for ground duty in Army units. Some of them find themselves drivers or gunners in Army convoys, some find themselves walking the streets as they augment Army infantry units. Not one of these augmentees are involved in air operations, rather they are bailing out the Army, doing the Army's job for them, because the Army can't get the job done without USAF troops filling in the roster.
My current job is as an air advisor to the Iraqi Air Force, but before I deployed I had to go through a rather intense combat skills course taught by ex-SEALs, ex-Rangers, 100% special forces or experienced SWAT officers. That's ground combat training, in case you're not following along.
And guess what - because of my job, if I ever end up on the ground, it'll be me, my 9mm, and a radio, by myself, pretty much in the situation that every Army troop is trained from day one to avoid because isolated troops end up dead. But that's MY combat environment, me and my M-9 and a radio against all comers until rescue shows up. That's why our SERE training takes so long (minimum 6 weeks plus advanced courses for high risk of capture and conduct after capture training), because when we find ourselves in ground combat, we're pretty much alone hoping to stay alive long enough for some snake eaters to bail us out.
And still, my wing has deployed only about 6 guys per year to flying jobs. The other several dozen per year are doing ground duty, many of them filling Army jobs in Army units, eating Army chow, shooting Army bullets, doing the Army's job. You don't see many Army troops filling in to fly nuclear capable strike aircraft... We got that covered, and we'll keep doing the Army's job as long as the SECDEF keeps signing the title 10 waivers (google it if you don't know what that means).
