Posted on 04/16/2014 8:12:40 AM PDT by SandRat
A top Air Force official had one word to describe the proposed cuts threatening to ground the A-10 fleet.
“Heinous.”
Rep. Ron Barber relayed the comments from Gen. Michael Hostage, the commander of the Air Combat Command, shortly after the pair toured Davis-Monthan Air Force Base to discuss the fate of the iconic attack aircraft known as the Warthog.
The commander of the Air Combat Command, Hostage oversees the 355th Fighter Wing at Davis-Monthan which flies more than 80 A-10s.
Barber, flanked by community leaders, asked Hostage to come to Tucson to see the overwhelming community support for the air base and the A-10.
Last week, Barber wrote to Air Force officials asking them to consider reassigning F-16 squadrons from Luke Air Force Base to D-M when squadrons of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters arrive.
After the tour with Hostage, Barber said he is still working with senators and key members in the House for a legislative solution.
Barber continues to blame the budget sequester as the true motivation for mothballing the A-10 fleet.
Former A-10 pilot Martha McSally, one of four Republicans vying to run against Barber this fall, accused the Tucson Democrat is playing political games using soldiers as backdrop as he runs for re-election.
“When it mattered most and he could have had an impact, Congressman Barber flat out ignored the threat to the A-10, denied it was at risk and was asleep at the switch to the point of skipping the committee hearing that shaped this crucial decision,” McSally said.
“Now he’s using active duty military to desperately play politics and cover his tracks. “
Barber has consistently disputed McSally’s assertions over the A-10 to the point of releasing a timeline of various actions he has taken since being elected into office in 2012.
The Tucson Democrat concedes he missed a committee hearing last year, but only to chair a subcommittee hearing on sequestration at the same time as the Air Force posture hearing.
“I’ve heard the argument that the A-10 is too costly, because of its age, to maintain and supply with parts. If that’s so, how come we’re still flying the B-52 and have no plans to retire it?”
Yeah, brother. I would answer, “Then let’s build some brand new ones!”
Great line...never worked with the Hawg, but knew plenty of folks who flew them, fixed them or supported them.
Spent most of my military days in TAC, ACC and PACAF, so I was a participant in numerous Red Flags. The A-10s always had their CAS war down low, while the “real men” (and women) in the F-16s, F-15s, Mud Eagles, F/A-18s, etc were pouring through the gap, heading downrange, or playing red air and defending the airspace.
One of the rules for red air was to leave the A-10s alone. Going after the Hawgs put you in their environment, low and slow and the tables could quickly turn. I remember sitting in a post-mission debrief where the entire mission was analyzed and the kills were verified. Some Navy Hornet driver just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to go after an A-10. Watching the replay on the RFMDS, you could see the Hawg get inside the Hornet’s turn and the A-10 driver called “Fox-8” (first time I ever heard that one).
The debriefer called it a valid kill and I’ve never heard so much laughter and applause in my life. The Hornet driver was conspiciously absent in the Nellis O Club bar that night, and the A-10s didn’t have any more problems with the F/A-18s for the rest of that Red Flag
Beef up the undercarriage and give them to the Corps.
IMO where the A10 is so much better is its ability to provide close cover and loiter for long periods.
And then make it back to base, which is just what I was saying in the first place.
Barber continues to blame the budget sequester as the true motivation for mothballing the A-10 fleet.
He's a Rat. Isn't it interesting the Red Star doesn't want to share that tidbit?
That’s the problem, mooselimes don’t like any form of pork.
Well played, Sir. Well played indeed.
Understood. And I think that we can agree that while ‘A’ stands for ‘Attack’ as in A-10, that Warthog drivers consider themselves fighter pilots. I guess it’s a state of mind.
Best ground support vehicle since it’s commissioning. Grunt’s best friend. And they want to retire it???!!!!! Obama knows how powerful a weapon it is. Just another step in this POTUS POS attempt to ruin America.
Should have been the Corps. anyway.
They would use them as they should.
“...”grubby” role of Close Air Support,...” Wow. How is allah doin’, yefragetuwrabrumuy? Are his denizens still kissin’ grubby ground, on a grubby cloth, like grubby animals- are they? Are the idiots, still herding around a stupid rock, in grubby mecca? I would love to see a couple of Warthogs, grind the lie of allah’s mecca into dust, yefragetwrabrumuy.
The grandfather of this bad boy was the P47. The JUG was as great a machine in WWII as the Warthog has been since it’s commissioning. My father-in-law was retired Brig Gen Donald W. “Bud” Guilfoyle, P47 P52 fighter Pilot in WWII, Distinguised Flying Cross, Air Medal with three clusters; said the JUG was his plane of choice. Although he only flew it briefly, he loved the HOG.
Yes, later on they got the 20mms. Don’t know when tho. They were fantastic when “a broken arrow” was declared. The lives they saved and the lives they took was a great number.
I'm unfamiliar w/ that one [Fox-8]; what's it mean?
I wasn’t a pilot but did spend a fair amount of time around them and other senior leadership.
IMHO the mission, survivability, loiter time, and all that are really only excuses. What it really comes down to it the fighter pilots run the air force and they like things that go FAST.
The A10 is really just too blue collar for them.
An F16 cannon runs out of ammo in a matter of seconds, plus it’s way fast even when it’s flying slow.
They should just give the whole fleet of A10’s to the Marine Corps if the AF doesn’t want them. Who is going to care more for the Marines on the ground than a Marine in the cockpit?
I was involved with the planning process and software for the SIOP and later as a battlestaff director on the old Looking Glass and as a missileer. The slim chances of bombers and tankers getting to a recovery base were evident even to the young NCOs who worked with me. ALCMs made a huge difference when they went operational, the chances went up though not by too much. I don’t think the bomber and tanker guys truly realized how tightly their mission plan wedged into all the others. As a missileer on my first AF tour I gave a mission brief for our missile wing to the bomb wing crews. I told them that they needed to be very quick on their MITO and fan out because if they were not they might be sharing airspace with a Minuteman ICBM coming out of the hole. I also told them that if they were on the ready line still decoding the message and saw the trails rising from the missile field that they could take their time until the field cleared and start worrying about deconfliction. That was a sobering thought for most. They always thought of themselves as the single entity in the plan rather than a tight fitting part.
“Who is going to care more for the Marines on the ground than a Marine in the cockpit?”
Oh, I don’t know. Why don’t you ask the families of Spirit 03?
http://www.afsoc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123136751
http://www.shadowspear.com/vb/threads/in-memory-of-spirit-03-jan-31-1991.19898/
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=17906340
While the Marines might like to have the A-10 it’s another matter if it comes out of their budget. Unless they could figure out how to deploy them off an deck the USMC would probably think that they are a luxury item.
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