Pilots And Maintainers Move To F-35 Lightning

As the retirement of the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II continues, the Air Force inactivated the historic 354th Fighter Squadron, which has flown the A-10 since 1991.

The transition away from the slow-flying ground attack jets has been under way for years as the Air Force moves to the newer, more advanced F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter. The 354th Squadron was known as the Pioneer Mustang Group and was the first unit to fly the famous North American Aviation P-51 Mustang in combat in 1943, which many believe changed the course of World War II. 

Known as the Bulldogs in recent times, the lights were turned off and the door closed as the 354th and its companion maintenance unit the 354th Fighter Generation Squadron were inactivated during a ceremony held September 13 at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base near Tucson, Arizona.

The 354th will be replaced at Davis-Monthan by the 492nd Special Operations Wing being relocated from Hurlburt Field in Florida with several aircraft including the MC-130J Commando II gunship and the young OA-1K armed overwatch aircraft program. Other A-10 units at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia and Gowen Field Air National Guard Base in Idaho will replace their A-10s with F-35s and F-16s, respectively, by 2028.

A-10 pilots have said watching the replacement of their platform has been difficult, but the 355th Wing commander, Col. Scott Mills, stated that the mission of ground support of troops would continue.

Col. Mills, a longtime A-10 pilot who has flown the aircraft in combat said, “The attack mindset is never and will never be defined by the aircraft we fly. The attack mindset is actually ... based solely on the soldier, sailor or Marine [who is] on the ground. It’s the ability to act when no one else will take action that is dangerous and put the needs of that ground team ahead of your own and ahead of your aircraft and do whatever it takes to make sure that at the end of the day, they are protected and enabled to achieve whatever their objective is for that day.”

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