Arkansas Fighter Wing Shedding A-10s

Arkansas Fighter Wing Shedding A-10s

The first two of 20 Fairchild-Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft left from the U.S. Air Force 188thFighter Wing, based at an Air National Guard base in Arkansas, Tuesday morning, according to Maj. Heath Allen. Allen says two of the aircraft are en route to the Moody Air Force Base in Georgia, where they will become part of a squadron there.

“We’ve had them since 2007. We’ve deployed to Afghanistan twice with those. We’ve set all kinds of maintenance records and in those deployments we’ve saved countless people on the ground and coalition lives,” said Col. Mark Anderson, 188th Fighter Wing commander.

This comes just nine months after the Air Force announced the 188th Fighter Wing, known as the “Flying Razorbacks,” would lose its 20 A-10 aircraft due to broad cuts in U.S. defense spending. The unit is converting to unmanned General Atomics MQ-9 Reapers for future missions.

For the complete story by Meredith Baldwin of KFSM-TV, click here.

Updated: September 11, 2013 — 9:35 AM
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