I disagree on the topic of the Sidewinders. If we have the older stuff in stock and the air-to-air threat is low, why not mount the old stuff? In the off-chance that some ISIS hillbilly manages to find his way into an old MiG he found lying around, he would be pretty easy to take out. Use the cheap shots for that, and…

The differences I see between owning a home outright and investing:

I get your point. I mostly agree with you, but you can't ignore the fact that the housing market is a market too. It's influenced by many of the same pressures and tied to wall street even if we don't like it.

People that bought a home in 2007 would disagree with you. MY $180,000 (as listed in 2006-2007) home is currently valued at $79,500. Net loss of over $100,000 if it was purchased near the peak of all the real estate madness.

If you view home ownership vs. investing in the market of the full term of a 30 year mortgage, IMO the picture is not as clear. Yes you can get hit in the stock market, but you can get hit in the real estate market too.