When was it un-retired?
Regardless, I still love the plane, so Welcome Back!
—”When was it un-retired?”
A political hot potato.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairchild_Republic_A-10_Thunderbolt_II#Future
“In January 2016, the USAF was “indefinitely freezing” plans to retire the A-10 for at least several years. In addition to Congressional opposition, its use in anti-ISIS operations, deployments to Eastern Europe as a response to Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine, and reevaluation of F-35 numbers necessitated its retention.[144][145] In February 2016, the Air Force deferred the final retirement of the aircraft until 2022 after being replaced by F-35s on a squadron-by-squadron basis.[146][147] In October 2016, the Air Force Materiel Command brought the depot maintenance line back to full capacity in preparation for re-winging the fleet.[148] In June 2017, it was announced that the aircraft “...will now be kept in the air force’s inventory indefinitely.”[149][6] The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine spurred some American observers to push for the loaning of A-10s to Ukraine, particularly following reports of an extended, stalled Russian convoy outside Kyiv, with critics of such a proposal noting the diplomatic and tactical complications to such an approach.”
NB: Armies are always prepared to fight their last battle.