Air Force

Your July 9 article, “War-Weary Air Force Weighs Need to Expand,” was disturbing for the mentality it reveals. Officers were concerned that recent overseas deployments “disrupt family lives and training routines.” Domestic rotations have been interrupted. In short, fighting a war overseas is a burden. Excuse me, but that is their job. It is nice to have a peacetime military, but it should be nice for us, not really for them. Clearly we need adequate domestic reserves, and training is vital, but fighting a war is the prime job. So stop the complaints.

WILLIAM N. HOKE

Manhattan Beach

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Re “B-2 Drops Its Bad PR in Air War,” July 8: The $44-billion B-2 project is incredible--21 planes at $2.2 billion each and $440,000 per mission! Just one B-2 would fund 15 60-member orchestras for 21 years, assuming $100,000 salaries and a $1-million conductor. But it’s OK; Hollywood, football, Genesis (King James Bible) and Congress teach us to beat up on each other and the Earth. We are rich and powerful, and only jobs matter. U.S. weapons exports of mass destruction range from the B-2 to the cigarette.

ROGER NEWELL

San Diego