Don't know specific numbers, but air wing composition (i.e., specific squadrons) is a lot more fluid now than it has been in many a moon; whereas once squadrons stayed in a particular CVW forever, it's much more plug-and-play now. Combination of reasons - demand for helo/Prowler sandbox deployments, wear-and-tear on the Charlie Hornets, demise of the Hoov, Tomcats trading in for Rhinos, etc etc. VMFAs on the Big Gray Boat have been rationalized many ways, but mostly it's because they need airplanes and aviators.
Nobody asked me, but I think it's a good idea. I know the Mahreens have a lot of heartburn with this concept, and not without good reasons, but I think there's good to be done both ways. Can't hurt to brush up on how the carrier Navy does things for when the big one goes off with the Chinamen - when we're doing more than just CAS again - and for the Navy folks to learn from the grunts how the grunts really do CAS - they're the brothers who know. There's an amazing amount of learning-by-osmosis that goes on when aviators from different backgrounds are together all the time. I think you learn more by bullshitting over sliders at midrats than you do at formal training or exercises.
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