May 28—The Air Force is planning to retire most of the A-10 "Warthog" ground-attack jets stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force base by next fall, under a plan unveiled as part of the Biden administration's proposed $715 billon defense budget.
But seven members of Arizona's congressional delegation have vowed to fight this latest Air Force plan to start retiring the A-10 Thunderbolt II jets — a mainstay of operations at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
A budget plan released Friday by the Air Force shows 45 A-10s would be retired during the 2022 fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2022, and an additional 21 would be retired in later years to bring current fleet of 281 planes to 218.
Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said plans call for 35 of the A-10 retirements to come from Davis-Monthan, which with one active-duty combat squadron and two training squadrons hosts the nation's largest contingent of A-10s.
"The Air Force plans to modernize and maintain 218 combat-capable A-10s into the 2030s to provide effective close air support for the counter-violent extremist organization fight," Stefanek said.
Developed in the 1970s to provide close air support and featuring a rapid-fire cannon capable of destroying armor, the A-10 has been upgraded over the years with the latest communications and targeting equipment, but more than 100 remaining planes need wing replacements.
The Warthog distinguished itself by taking out hundreds of tanks during the invasion of Iraq and later was used to support low-level ground combat in Afghanistan and most recently, Syria.
With an authorized squadron size of 18 aircraft — cut from 24 several years ago — D-M under the Air Force plan stands to lose two of its three A-10 squadrons this year, representing a loss of hundreds of pilots and maintainers.
D-M is host to more than 10,000 airmen and civilian employees and contributes nearly $1 billion to the Tucson-area economy annually.
In a joint statement on Friday, six Arizona Democrats — Sens. Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema, and Reps. Ann Kirkpatrick, Ruben Gallego, Tom O'Halleran and Greg Stanton — and Republican Rep. Debbie Lesko vowed to oppose the A-10 retirement plans, citing its unique role in close air support of ground troops and lack of any near-term replacement for that mission.
"Removing A-10s from the fleet when there is not another aircraft capable of performing this mission takes a vital tool away from our military and is the wrong step for our national security," said Kelly, a decorated former Navy combat pilot who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
"The A-10 is a crucial asset to the close air support mission and is an iconic symbol of the Arizona defense community," Kirkpatrick said, vowing to fight to keep the A-10.
Gallego, a Marine veteran who served in combat in Iraq, said cutting the A-10s could put troops at risk.
"No aircraft in our inventory is as trusted by Marines and soldiers in combat as the A-10," said Gallego, a member of the House Armed Services Committee. "We do a disservice to them, and risk undermining our tactical edge, if we prematurely reduce their numbers."
In a letter sent earlier this month to Air Force Acting Secretary John Roth, the six Arizona lawmakers voiced strong support for the A-10 and expressed concern about the future of Davis-Monthan.
"We will continue to advocate for the A-10 program because we have not seen a clearly articulated plan on how the Air Force will replace the aircraft's capabilities nor plans to mitigate impacts to the communities surrounding installations where the A-10 is located," the legislators wrote.
In their letter, the lawmakers asked for details on studies comparing the F-35's effectiveness at ground support — something Congress required the Air Force to perform in 2017 — and the status of a current effort to install new wings on more than 100 A-10s.
Noting that D-M is in the running for a potential consolidation of geographically separated combat search-and-rescue units, the lawmakers also asked when the Air Force will make that decision and when such a move would be made.
Combat search and rescue — often supported by the slow, low-flying A-10 — is another major mission at D-M.
That mission was strengthened in 2018, when the 563rd Rescue Group was realigned from the command of the 23rd Wing to D-M's host 355th Wing. The 563rd had operated at D-M as a geographically separated unit of the 23rd Wing, based at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia, since 2003.
The Arizona lawmakers said in their letter that discussions with the Air Force have been positive "but have not yielded the necessary details on the A-10 program nor the future of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base to be able to discern a full commitment to a plan."
Stefanek said D-M still hosts many vital military missions and is under consideration for new missions, including an expanded combat search and rescue role.
"We are looking prominently at Davis-Monthan for other missions," she said.
Local business and civic leaders have long expressed concerns that D-M — which has so far been passed over as a base for the controversial F-35 — would be greatly diminished if it lost its biggest mission.
Davis-Monthan — which won the Commander in Chief's Installation Excellence Award in 2012 and 2018 — also hosts separate units like the 55th Electronic Combat Group, the 12th Air Force command and the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, as well as supporting Border Patrol aviation and Air National Guard drone, homeland security and training missions.
The Air Force began efforts to retire the entire fleet of A-10s — the nation's only fixed-wing aircraft dedicated to close air support of ground troops — in 2014, arguing money to upgrade the fleet would be better spent on its future replacement, the multipurpose F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter.
Congress has rebuffed those efforts, citing the lack of another purpose-built ground support aircraft and the A-10s invaluable service protecting ground troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.
Lawmakers instead appropriated more money for wing replacements needed to keep the A-10 flying, and the Air Force has said it plans to keep some A-10s into the 2030s.
Efforts in Congress to thwart the retirement of the A-10 have long been led by Arizona lawmakers, in the past including former Rep. Ron Barber, the late Sen. John McCain, and most recently former Sen. Martha McSally, a former A-10 combat pilot.
Contact senior reporter David Wichner at [email protected] or 573-4181. On Twitter: @dwichner. On Facebook: Facebook.com/DailyStarBiz
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