TACP Association joins lawmakers in opposing A-10 cuts

2014-11-14T09:59:00-05:00

From: Air Force Times

For the first time, the largest group of tactical air control party airmen have joined with lawmakers to publicly oppose the Air Force's plan to retire the A-10 Thunderbolt II, a jet beloved by troops on the ground but in the budget cross hairs of the service.

The Tactical Air Control Party Association joined lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Thursday to call on the Air Force to reconsider its plan to cut the entire A-10 fleet, a move that has already faced stiff opposition from lawmakers and is not likely to move forward the way the service had planned.

"This is the first time we've spoken publicly about this issue," said retired Master Sgt. Charlie Keebaugh, president of the TACP Association. "We are compelled to take action at this point. Knowing the status of the world and our brothers, and our friends who are being sent downrange, they deserve to have the support that they need to do the mission."

Thursday's press conference reignited the debate over the Air Force's plans to retire the A-10 as Congress returned to Washington after a break for mid-term elections to take up unfinished business, including the defense authorization bill. Both the House and Senate authorization committees have moved to block the A-10 from being retired.

"I've been fighting so hard for the A-10, and there's only one reason for that," Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., said. "I believe when we send our men and women to fight on our behalf, that they deserve the very best and we have a responsibility to ensure we can do everything we can to bring them home.

There's no doubt the A-10 is the best close-air support platform out there. It is very important that we preserve the capacity to give the very best close-air support to our men and women."

The press conference came just days after the Air Force disclosed it was working on a compromise plan to retire about 72 A-10s in order to move maintenance airmen over to the F-35. The service needs 1,100 maintainers to help the F-35 reach initial operating capability in 2016.

The plan has not received much support on Capitol Hill.

"We understand that as time goes on, the A-10 will be replaced by the F-35," said Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga. "But it makes to sense to take a weapons system away that works right now based on problems right now … to have another weapons system in five, six, seven years."

The TACP Association holds a conference every October. At the conference last month, the association polled all of its members to see if there was any support for the service's plan to retire the A-10.

One hundred percent of the airmen opposed the move, Keebaugh said. The association has 1,300 active-duty and Air National Guard members who have been directed to not speak about the issue, but the 2,000 retired members are united in opposition to the Air Force's plan, Keebaugh said.

The association has sent letters to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James urging them to reconsider the move. The association also suggested a meeting with the secretaries and its members to "get their opinion with no fear of retribution for their career."

The leaders who are suggesting the retirement are out of touch with what troops on the ground need, he said.

"The people who are saying this have never been shot at, have never been on a battlefield and had to employ that asset, and look up in the sky and see a stack of ten different airframes, and choose what they want," he said.

http://www.airforcetimes.com/story/military/capitol-hill/2014/11/13/tacp-airmen-oppose-a10-cuts/18979861/

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 14 at 2014 7:16 PM

2014-11-14T19:16:41-05:00

The A-10 is an amazing aircraft, capable of so much havoc and destruction. Our enemies fear it, we love it. Why get rid of it? No other jet around does what it does. We're not replacing it, they're just cutting it to save money for other stuff... unlike retiring the 53's for the V-22's, or 15's for the 35/22, this makes zero sense to me. Theres other planes that should be chopped well before this one!

Response by TSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 14 at 2014 10:45 PM

2014-11-14T22:45:48-05:00

I love the A-10's and have no idea if they should be retired or not. Yet, after seeing one of the engines in class I would dread to work on that aircraft.
-A Mechanics Nightmare

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 14 at 2014 10:59 PM

2014-11-14T22:59:09-05:00

"The leaders who are suggesting the retirement are out of touch with what troops on the ground need."

"The people who are saying this have never been shot at, have never been on a battlefield and had to employ that asset"

I completely agree with the statements above in regards to the retirement of the A-10.

Response by SFC Mark Merino made Nov 14 at 2014 11:33 PM

2014-11-14T23:33:40-05:00

I love the A-10. A flying tank killer built around a 30mm enemy nightmare of epic proportions that has even scored an air kill in combat (Desert Storm). Now please do a story and save my beloved OH-58D Kiowa Warrior!

Response by Lt Col Skip Fleshman made Nov 15 at 2014 10:21 AM

2014-11-15T10:21:00-05:00

Time to move on. We can be much more precise now with GPS and laser guided munitions that it makes little sense to have the A10 flying low and slow to the ground. Far better to use drones, F16s and F18s until the F35 is ready.

The Air Force wanted to retire the A10 20 years ago!!

Response by GySgt Joe Strong made Mar 3 at 2015 1:44 PM

2015-03-03T13:44:47-05:00

In other news, slower aircraft, especially those that fly closer to the ground, are more vulnerable to ground fire.
Are they really allowing themselves to be quoted saying this stuff?

http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/show-daily/afa/2015/02/12/afa-a10-cas-carlisle-air-combat-savings-command/23304551/

ACC Head: Follow-On to A-10 Aircraft Possible

A future close air support-specific platform to replace the A-10 remains a possibility, the head of Air Combat Command said Thursday.

Response by MSgt Allan Vrboncic made Mar 5 at 2015 1:55 PM

2015-03-05T13:55:18-05:00

The A-10 Thunderbolt II, the Warthog, is the best Ground Support Aircraft ever made. If they are smart they will keep it and make any upgrades it may need.

Response by PFC Robert Falk made Sep 21 at 2015 12:33 PM

2015-09-21T12:33:06-04:00

With a few taps on a specially configured Android tablet, a joint terminal attack controller called in an airstrike from an A-10 gunship, the Pentagon’s research arm announced.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, better known as Darpa, for the first time tested the so-called Persistent Close Air Support, or PCAS, technology on an A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft from April through June near Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, the agency announced this week in a press release.
The evaluations “showed that a warfighter serving as a joint terminal attack controller (JTAC) on the ground could, in seamless coordination with a pilot, successfully command an airstrike with as few as three clicks on a tablet,” the release states.
The program aims to develop easier, faster and more precise coordination between ground forces and air crews while conducting strikes against nearby targets, according to Darpa. The goal is to use smaller munitions to hit multiple or moving targets to minimize the incidence of friendly fire and collateral damage, according to the agency.
“We have shown that a flexible architecture and extensible technology toolsets are key to making groundbreaking improvements in air-ground coordination,” Dan Patt, DARPA program manager, said in the release.
The prototype system involves two components: PCAS-Ground software, called the Android Tactical Assault Kit; and PCAS-Air, an automated targeting system on board the aircraft to determine the timed release of laser– and GPS-guided munitions, according to the release.
Of the 50 sorties, ten involved live-fire weapons engagements — all of which were successful and carried out within six minutes, it states. The technology has also been tested on a Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, it states.

Response by SMSgt Thor Merich made Sep 21 at 2015 4:50 PM

2015-09-21T16:50:54-04:00

I am not TACP, but being assigned to AFSOC, I have contact with them often. I can say that privately, they have voiced the same opinion as the retired members on the merits of the A-10. It make no sense at all to remove a working system in order to replace it with something else down the road. Common sense would dictate that any decision made to retire the A-10 should involve the troops that use the equipment or receive the benefits of same (ie. Army troops).

Response by MSgt John Taylor made Oct 4 at 2015 10:34 PM

2015-10-04T22:34:32-04:00

The P-47 was an amazing ground support aircraft, just like the A-10, its time has passed. In this day and age of budget cuts and sequestration, hard decisions have to be made. The A-10 is a hard call, but a logical one. Consider the world and its treats, the A-10 is no longer needed.