The house will likely be finished, but the misapplication of core competencies will probably manifest itself through poor carpentry, plumbing, and electrical work. Similarly, Services can take on tasks beyond their expertise, but in doing so sacrifice those skills at which they excel. The joint effort to build this house would likely have saved time and money in the short term, but these benefits are diminished by the need to equip plumbers to do carpentry, carpenters to do electrical work, and so forth. The air medium provides an example for further discussions of Service competencies. Such comments only serve to confuse the issue and detract from the Services' abilities to remain focused on their roles.
Surface forces maneuver in the air medium to achieve surface objectives.
In doing so, all surface forces maintain an air component. Surface forces maneuver through the air to achieve objectives directly related to their surface objective. That is, Marines maneuver in the air to seize a beachhead, Army units maneuver in the air to achieve territorial gain, and Navy units maneuver in the air to provide security for naval operations. The Air Force maneuvers in the air, not to achieve any lesser objective but to control and exploit fully the entire third dimension. This distinction is often overlooked since the idea of exploiting air and space is a relatively novel idea in history of warfare.