You assert that CAS is of little importance to USAF. your evidence is a decision to mothball 30% of a fleet of aircraft that has been flying since the 70s with way too many K hours on them. my counter argument 1) retiring a portion of the fleet actually makes the rest of the fleet healthier and 2) there are many ways to perform CAS including A-10, AH-64, AC-130, F-16, even heavy bombers. the same