Air Force and Navy in Iraq

Steve M of No More Mister Nice Blog noticed this Yahoo article about the increasing use of air force and navy personnel in Iraq:

U.S. airmen are increasingly on the ground in Iraq, driving in convoys and even working with detainees — a shift in the Air Force's historic mission that military officials call necessary to bolster the strapped Army.

The main aerial hub for the war in Iraq has 1,500 airmen doing convoy operations in Iraq and 1,000 working with detainees, training Iraqis and performing other activities not usually associated with the Air Force, said Col. Tim Hale, commander of the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing.

"Every one of us has learned that we are in a nontraditional state in our armed forces," he said, standing outside an auditorium at an air base in Kuwait.

I don't know if this is what some generals mean by the wheels coming off in Iraq or if this simply represents an efficient deployment of personnel. Feel free to offer comments below.