Tue, Jun 28, 2022
Goodbye, Warthog. Hello, Falcon.
The 122nd Fighter Wing of Indiana’s Air National Guard is losing its 21, Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft. So states a press release from Indiana Congressional Representative Jim Banks. The A-10s will be replaced by General Dynamics F-16 aircraft.
“As the only Member of Congress from Indiana on the Armed Services Committee in the House or the Senate, facilitating the transition from A-10s to F-16s at the 122nd Fighter Wing has been one of my top priorities since I first arrived to Capitol Hill,” said Rep. Banks—whose candor and obdurate political tenor have earned him praise and criticism in equal measure.
The departure, in both the literal and lasting senses, of the 122nd Fighter Wing’s A-10s underscores recent allegations that the Air Force is endeavoring to surreptitiously do away with the iconic aircraft—thereby circumventing Congressional mandates to preserve the uniquely capable, much-loved warplane.
The allegations derive of a March 2022 USAF intra-service briefing that asserts Air Force leaders have systematically starved the A-10 fleet of resources, maintenance, and upgrades for purpose of precipitating what the reports author termed “demolition by neglect.”
That the Air Force Brass has never much liked the A-10 is no secret. The service—in the apocryphal belief that wars can be won in the absence of troops fighting on the ground—has typically favored fast, high-flying aircraft capable of bombing targets far behind enemy lines. The A-10, conversely, was designed for the sole purpose of providing close air-support to ground forces—a prosaic but critical mission validated repeatedly over a century of mechanized warfare.
Notwithstanding the hubris of politicians and intrigues of the Military Industrial Complex, the 122nd Fighter Wing—after the stoic fashion of war-fighters—issued the following statement regarding its imminent reshaping:
“As an award winning unit, the Airmen of the 122nd Fighter Wing stand ready and willing to take on any mission set assigned to the unit, to include the F-16 Fighting Falcon.”
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