As Rep. Martha McSally fights for the survival of the A-10, the USAF continues to drain resources by redirecting them to the failing F-35. At the same time McSally spoke of the A-10’s success, the crack USAF PR team at Luke Air Force base was touting the success of its Mechanical Transition Training program.
On Tuesday, McSally spoke of increased use of A-10s in attacks on ISIS targets following the Paris attacks. U.S. officials recently reported that A-10s deployed to Incirlik Air Force Base in Turkey carried out attacks against ISIS oil-tanker trucks in Syria.
The A-10s are stationed in two separate locations in CENTCOM, Turkey and Kuwait. They are so valuable, in fact, that the CENTCOM Commander wanted them spread across the entire battle area.
Even in the of growing U.S public push to crush ISIL, the USAF is dedicated to crushing the planes doing the heavy lifting.
According to the USAF press release, Airmen from Hill Air Force Base, Utah, participated in advanced training on maintenance procedures for the F-35 Lightning II Nov. 3 at Luke Air Force Base. Those Airmen “are mostly experienced maintainers who have worked previously on legacy jets, such as the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Falcon.”
So not only is the USAF pulling A-10 personnel away for training on the F-35, they are pulling personnel away from two of the very platforms that are fighting ISIL. The USAF will not say they were pulling A-10 maintainers but yet they are and it is a badly kept secret.
It is hard to imagine anything more reprehensible than that diversion, but not when you are talking about the current Air Force and its contempt for the public.
In its press release, some poor Staff Sergeant is quoted as saying, “Overall, the F-35 is going to save us money down the road. When we’ve made thousands of them, we’ll have the same jet across the board and a population of maintainers who all know how to work with it. Additionally, we’ll have the same maintainers be able to do more jobs in less time, and have a wider knowledge of the technical aspects of working with the F-35.”
The A-10 killed those 100 trucks cheaper than any other platform could have, especially the F-35. Here is the math: F-35 x 100 Small Diameter Bomb II (Raytheon) ($200K EACH) = $20 million; A-10, 100 rounds of 30mm HEI per truck, $55 per round (FY15 dollars) = $550K
It is bad enough that the USAF is still trying to put lipstick on a pig and make the F-35 appear to be cost effective, but they have put lipstick on another pig and are selling it too.
As reported by Tony Carr on the popular military website, John Q. Public, in a press release out of Osan, Maj. Gen. James N. Post III, the man who called supporters of the A-10 treasonous, is being celebrated for his new role at Air Force headquarters as “Air Force director of current operations and deputy chief of staff for operations.”
According to the press release, “As the director of current operations, Post is in charge of providing time-sensitive situational awareness and analysis to Air Force senior leaders and linking worldwide operations with core Air Force processes to enable global vigilance, reach and power.”
Situational awareness. From Post? You cannot make this up, nor would you because no one would believe you.
What we do and can believe is Rep. Martha McSally’s statement that: “Despite the Administration’s persistent and flawed arguments for seeking to mothball this irreplaceable asset, A-10s continue to demonstrate their value on the battlefield.”
What we do and can believe is Rep. Martha McSally’s statement that: “Time and time again, we’ve seen the A-10’s number called up to protect us. And now, when the world turns to us to destroy this dangerous and growing threat, we turn to the A-10. It proves again, that until we have a suitable replacement for this one of a kind attack jet, we must keep it flying.”
What we do know is that the taxpayers must force Congress to cut the buy of the F-35, we simply cannot afford 1800 of them in the USAF alone.
Related articles:
JTAC on A 10: “the sound of don’t mess with me”
A-10 in play as Senate Appropriations Committee drafts FY 2015 NDAA
Ayotte: If the Air Force cut their acquisition failures they could save the A-10
Air Force brass taken to task for A-10 mothball plans