According to the New York Times op-ed piece that reports about the Air Force's attempt to retire the A-10s, the ringmaster of the campaign is Gen. Dave Deptula, who, as Slate readers may recall, was one of the intellectual leaders behind the "shock and awe" doctrine, which envisions a style of warfare—attack a regime's key "nodal points" from the air and it will crumble from the stress—that is diametrically opposed to the A-10's mission, which is to provide close-air support to soldiers fighting on the ground.