It’s a prison break…go Hornets…go…!!!
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So there’s still hope for the Tomcat 
But… Why? is the Navy running out of fighters? Do they suddenly have a high deployment rate? Lost 30 in crashes? They only add about 2000 hours per machine so that’s not a shocking lot. Perhaps you could extend it a bit more if you don’t stress it but 8000 at EOL is not exactly low.
One thing to note is the Marines =/= the Navy. They run entirely separate logistical and operational structures. The only time they meld super closely is when the Marines provide squadrons to fill out a CVW.
It’s infamous in US circles our Marine Corps generally gets the short end of the appropriations stick. I don’t follow their cycles closely, but I know as of the mid 2000s they were flying older framed F/A-18As that had been heavily modernized with avionics for the F/A-18Cs. While functionally they’re very compatible, those A frames were older, and have a lot more flight time. Similarly the Marine budget’s been kind of borked in recent years because they’re required by law to earmark a significant amount of money for development and acquisition of the F-35B, which is supposed to replace their entire fleet of fixed wing aircraft, including both the harrier and the legacy bugs.
If I had to make a Rogoway-esque deduction, I’d guess that they probably flew some F/A-18s until they fell apart, needed to get them replaced, couldn’t justify new build, so they picked the boneyard. I doubt the Navy wants them, every legacy Hornet they operate is one more Super Hornet they can’t.
All six of them that survived 
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Aha, I see that makes sense then. Still a bit silly though, the fact that the marines are attempting to be a navy within a navy instead of using shared assets and resources. Looks like they’ve strayed a bit far from the original concept.
Well if they are doing that… bring out the excavators and resurrect the f111!!!
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I love both the drive and consistency of your message…! Carry on!
The Navy and Marine Corps have never got along and the Marines have always been the redheaded step child when it came to appropriations. If the Army or Navy don’t want it somehow the Marines end up with it and find a way to make it work.
Wheels
I’ve heard the same thing…and the Marines apparently aren’t really broken up about it…they kind of like the lean, mobile force that they are…less hobbled by logistics. I think it was Lt. Fick (wrote One Bullet Away) who said that when it came down to it, the Marines are about a soldier with a rifle in his hand. God love em’ and all Marines…
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A story about Navy and Marines rivalry that always stuck with me was from Boyington’s book.
During WW2 a Marine Corsair had caught on fire and there was a young sailor just standing there watching it burn. Boyington thought the sailor was frozen with fear so he yelled at the kid to shock him and to get him to get some fire equipment to put out the fire. The young sailor told him it wasn’t a Navy plane and it wasn’t his responsibility. Lol, now Boyington did not accept this answer and after the fire was put out he marched into the commanding officers office and “requested” that the Navy put any grudges against the Marines on hold and start playing on the same team until the fighting with the Japanese had ceased.
Wheels
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