>>>It is my understanding that an A-10 Warthog can take alot of punishment.
Helicopters seem to be vulnerable to ground fire — even some of the most modern ones.
I think from specs I saw the Warthog could accompany the tankers for a while — they cannot reach the full speed of the KC-10 or KC-135.
But an A-10 Warthog would slow down the tankers at some point...<<<
To be honest KC-135 is less vulnerable to manpad attack. It has four, not two engines. Manpad warhead is very tiny and it rarely hits somewhere but jet exhaust.
This is hostile country where there could be Moslem extremists operating in.
Sending in a company of Marines to this air base to beef up security might not be a bad idea. And have them check ID's -- no exceptions.
We have the technology to have everyone on a military base be given an ID card, and instantly swipe it on a portable computer and immediately show a picture of the person.
In the past two weeks, we lost a transport plane in Afghanistan, so the O-bozo Admin (O-bozo = Obama) is probably asleep on the job just as it was last September when two Marines were killed and many other wounded in a sneak attack in Afghanistan.