From the Usual USAF Source...
A-10s Back in Europe
Five U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft pilots taxi on the flightline at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, May 16, 2014. While in Germany, the aircraft will support the ground troops of 15 nations participating in force-on-force maneuver training during Exercise Combined Resolve II. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Gustavo Castillo/Released) Approximately 100 Air National Guardsmen from the 124th Fighter Wing out of Gowen Field, Idaho, accompanied A-10 Thunderbolt IIs to Spangdahlem AB, Germany, to support the Combined Resolve II training exercise. The US Army Europe-directed multinational exercise is conducted in partnership with 15 NATO and European partners, including Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Georgia, Hungary, Kosovo, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Solvenia, and the US. It will be May 15 to June 30, according to a May 20 release. "This is an interoperability exercise working on partnership tasks, because this is the way we are going to fight in the future," said Christian Marquardt, Joint Multinational Training Command spokesman. The "A-10s will support ground troops participating in force-on-force maneuver training at the US Army's Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany," states the release. The mission "is the same mission that we do back home. We provide close air support for friendlies on the ground when they are receiving effective fire from the enemy," said 1st Lt. Kristen Daigle, officer in charge of intelligence. "The A-10s will roll in and try to get the enemy off their back."
I think it was just last month that the A-10s that USED to be permanently based in Germany rotated back to the US. And now they're back... until USAF retires the whole fleet, of course. While it's not probable that NATO will go to war against the Rooshians, it sure would be nice to have the A-10s flying against massed armor columns if the balloon DID go up. That's what the aircraft was designed for, after all.
I *still* smile a little when I ponder all these commie-bloc countries rushing to join NATO as soon as the Wall fell.
ReplyDeleteMe, too, Inno... me, too. But I wonder if the expansion was/is a Good Thing. The treaty requires all members to defend any member once it's attacked, and how many European nations, or even the US, for that matter, would go to the wall over Estonia? I hope Putin isn't much of a gambler, coz I really don't wanna know the answer to that question.
DeleteIf you ever saw, or more specifically, heard an A10 spewing 30mm rounds down range you could imagine how terrifying, to say nothing of the destructive power, they truly are.
ReplyDeleteUse to see, and hear them just about ever night at Las Pulgas, Camp Pendleton back in the day.
tim
I've only seen film, tim, but that was enough.
DeleteThe air show here had an A-10 demo a few years back.
ReplyDeleteThere was live ammo ...or a super reasonable facsimile thereof.
It was most impressive.
Now that I think about it further, it was just before the end of the last century.
Lucky you! I've never seen an A-10 in the air, only on static display at a couple of air shows.
DeleteWhat a classic. The big kids hate the "slow moving" un-hip A-10 and can't wait to get rid of it until the potential of an international incident involving serious use of military force arises its head and then America can't get enough of them--they're the first ones called because nothing delivers CAS like a tank-busting Warthog and if one is lost one doesn't lose a gold-plated multi-million dollar multi-mission sacred cow that takes years to manu.
ReplyDeleteGood points, Virgil. It remains to be seen if the AF will actually be allowed to kill 'em off, coz Congress ain't buyin' that line... so far.
DeletePS: Reminds me of the F-111 which the big kids also hated because it was a $ suck maint hog but they couldn't perform a single long-range msn w.o. it, e.g., the Libyan msn under Regan staged out of Upper Heyford UK.
ReplyDeleteI used to love watching Aardvarks come and go outta Heyford. They're freakin' NOISY!
Deletethat´s a Sound of Freedom I´ll be listening for as the fly approach to Spang, maybe i´ll even get to see a couple. :-)
ReplyDeletePhil, Msgt USAF RET
Germany
I hope so, Phil.
Delete