I think you hit the nail on the head when you said "It needs to identify with its roots, not try and rebrand itself to chase after the flavor of the week according to some marketing guru."
USAF's "marketing" approach has been a serious hot button with me for about the last five years or so, ever since the Powers That Be decided the Hap Arnold logo wasn't good (or modern) enough to fit the "new" USAF. That was the first step down a slippery slope and it just keeps getting worse, from this ol' sergeant's perspective. (The "new" uniforms in trial right now are a classic example, last year's revision of the mission statement is another.) Perhaps my vision is clouded by nostalgia, but I don't remember having "image" issues back in my day.
Roots: ignore them at your peril.
I've always liked the way my brother (a USMC helo pilot and now flight instructor) put it: "The USAF is the finest paramilitary outfit the world has ever seen." 
Commenting by HaloScan
