A-10s to Iraq
The Hill reports that the Pentagon is deploying 10 A-10 Warthogs to Iraq with the Indiana National Guard’s 122nd Fighter Wing;
The 122nd Fighter Wing will send 303 airmen, and the Terre Haute Air Guard base will send five as part of the mission, The Journal Gazette reported.
Second Lt. Christopher Myers, public affairs officer for the 122nd Fighter Wing, told The Journal Gazette that the A-10 jets would be “in a support role.”
Although A-10s generally are used to support ground combat troops with close air support, Obama has repeatedly said that U.S. troops would not have a combat mission.
Yeah, well, this happens every time – the Air Force tries to do away with the A-10 Thunderbolt to save money and then suddenly, an operation raises it’s head that only the A-10 can accomplish. That back-and-forth has been going on since the first George Bush was President.
The A-10 is the infantryman’s best friend, and there really is nothing that can fill the close air support role like the A-10. Apparently, the A-10 is designed to survive combat and to survive a political situation equally well.
Category: Air Force
As a former 11B I can attest to it’s awesomeness. But, it’s not high speed and fancy enough for the geniuses at the Five Sided Wind Tunnel, so it must go. Must throw money down a black hole. There is a reason why the M2 and the 1911 have stuck around after all these years. Some things just work.
But…but…but….The F-35 can do the same job as the A-10…. /sarcasm.
“Non-combat support role,” eh? My understanding is that A-10s kill shit, laugh maniacally at any dumbass stupid enough to shoot back at them, then bestow the Darwin Award on said dumbass, then go right on killing shit. Basically the Grim Reaper with wings. Period. They don’t do anything else. An I wrong?
So how is it “non-combat” when they’re going to kill lots of shit? Seriously, what kind of horseshit is that?
I think the only air-to-mud weapon that is more designed to kill shit would be the specter.
you know it’s on when they send those over.
Also, it is going to be US boots on the ground at the other end of the radio telling the hog drivers where to make things die. But, we know two things about those soldiers.
1. They will have to wear their running shoes as the Commander in Chief has expressly ordered NO BOOTS ON THE GROUND.
2. Only soldiers with at least one year time in at their duty station will be deployed because again… No Boots.
P.S. Thanks Terminal Lance.
hell – even when they talk about precision guided bombs… somebody has to be there to light them up with the illuminators…
“No boots on the ground”… my ass.
This administration does not count SF as “Boots on the ground.” They are classified as “advisors.”
This really pisses me off. The Air Force leadership in their infinite short-sighted wisdom disbanded the Arkansas Air Guard’s Warthog Squadron at Fort Smith. This was a stellar unit. Wonder which unit is going to relieve the Indiana Guard unit when rotation time comes.
When I was a kid, my Mom used to bring home out-of-date copies of Aviation Week and Space Technology magazines that her boss (USAF Col. Ret.) would pass along to her to give to me. In one issue, (call me crazy but) I recall reading about the contract award for the A-10 and how the P-51 Mustang was seriously evaluated to fulfill the specified role. The P-51 lost out, but the article indicated it represented itself quite well, given the modern requirements and cost differential. Just a little A/C trivia.
The P-51 will always be the embodiment of greatness in that form follows function. So will the A-10, perhaps more so. Go forth Warthogs, and get some.
Call me twisted, but the sound of a P-51 running flat out, low level, that big old Rolls-Royce Merlin growling… it’s just plain sexy!
Kind of a deep-thrpoated phwoom when they go by, as opposed to the blatting rumble of the radials. It’s all wood to me.
Maybe you mean the A1E Sky Raider?
No, I am quite sure the article was regarding the P-51 platform. Short of finding the actual paper magazine, I cannot substantiate my memory though. But here, check this out.
http://aviationweek.com/blog/can-scorpion-fly
A modern turboprop A/C being offered by Textron that has P-51 roots.
I screwed that up… the P51 look alike turboprop is the Piper PA-48, which is pictured.
Here is a video with more details and substantiation:
Looks like you can see over the engine on this Piper. Can’t do that on a P-51 on the ground. But, it’s easy to see the P-51 parts on it. Even thought briefly that we were looking at a nose wheel.
Nothing more pleasing to my ear than a recip engine running at full poweror startup or idle. A recip mech to the end. Joe
Get some Bro’ !!!
Those things are nasty!!!
There used to be a squadron at Truax in Madison WI. I loved seeing them fly over.
Yeah, they’re dinosaurs all right.
As in a bloody T-Rex.
Here’s a story that says the ISIL/IS HQ was attacked and whacked.
http://news.msn.com/us/joint-chiefs-chair-no-safe-haven-for-militants
So perhaps the smarter people at the Pentagon are having their way, after all?
But what do I know?
Uh, not to nitpick, but the A-10’s in the Indiana Air Guard are at Fort Wayne, not Terre Haute. Former Air Guard Engineer here who was based out of Terre Haute when they still had planes (F-16’s) out there. The 181st Fighter Wing was the unit out of TH. Anyway, Godspeed airmen and good hunting.
OK…if the Air Force don’t want them…give them to the Army. The Marines have their own fixed wing CAS…why not the Army? I know…POLITICS!
The USAF used to be the Army Air Corps. Then someone decided that wasn’t enough and made it a separate branch.
They split because it was a full time job keeping Gen. LeMay from starting WW III.
Old “Bombs Away” LeMay? Patton with a pilot’s license? You don’t say!
The Brits started the whole “Independent Air Force” thing, back in 1918. On the American side, Billy Mitchell was the army’s most strident advocate for air power, and an independent air arm. His relentless pursuit to prove efficacy of air power got him into a heap of trouble w/ both Army & Navy brass in 1925…Michell was stripped of brig gen rank back to permanent rank of colonel, and was later court martialed for insubordination.
He never lived to see an independent Air Force. Billy Mitchel died in 1936 (posthumously promoted to Major General by FDR). Gary Cooper starred in a 1955 movie: The Court Martial of Billy Mitchell.
The tip of the speare just got a lot sharper. My nephew loves the A-10’s. He worked them to whack the taliban, he says that not only can you hear them but when the gun fires you can feel it, like driving on the rumble strips. And that is at a mile or more away.
I got a chance to practice calling down airstrikes out at the Camp Atterbury air-to-ground range this year during Pre-Mob training with the A-10’s from this same unit. It was an experience to say the least!
When did you Mob through Atterbury? If it was after 2010 chances are I’m the one who tracked and validated your training.
It was Pre-Mob this past March.
I remember the JAATs at Range 301 in Graf involving the A-10s and our Cobras when I was with the 11th ACR. Everybody would stop training so they could observe a hell of a killing team in action. Quite awesome…
My Unit did Convoy Security when I was in A-stan, and A-10’s prowling around always meant a quiet mission, “Hadji” didn’t even poke his head up when those birds were prowling around, ditto with Apaches!
The A-10 Warthog…my favorite aircraft!
Warthog pilots are Hog Drivers…anyone else choking on the irony here? OMG I love this!
My Nam wet dream,a A-10 flying as my gunship on a E-vac or a hot extact mission. Support for the battle of Hue. This the best CAS weapon ever ! Down and dirty with the Troops. Hogs forever. Joe
Oddly enough, Syria is also the F-22’s combat debut. https://twitter.com/DeptofDefense/status/514432344917540864/photo/1
And since they’re flying within the Syrian air defenses but the Admin doesn’t want to bomb the regime, it actually makes sense…
Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t B. Hussein 0bama & Company cancel all further production of the F/A22 as well as snuff out a big chunk of NASA? I’m sure they used those funds for many an 0bama family vacation as well as for as many handouts as they could come up with to buy votes!