Combat Air Forces, or CAF, units from multiple commands began flying again on Monday after many stopped flying in April of this year due to sequestration. This decision, which impacts the A-10 Thunderbolt IIs based at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, includes all units grounded by budget sequestration in April and will fund normal operations of these units until the end of the fiscal year.
The restored flying hour program represents $208 million of the $1.8 billion reprogramming allocation authorized by Congress.
For ACC, the restored flying hours will be allocated to combat aircraft and crews across the command’s operational and test units, including the Air Warfare Center’s Weapons School, Aggressors and the Thunderbirds aerial demonstration team.
While the return to the sky means a return to crucial training and development for pilots, navigators, flight crews, mission crews and maintainers, the leader of the Air Force’s CAF fleet cautions that this is the beginning of the process, not the end.
The restoration of flying hours only addresses the next 2 1/2 months of flying up until Oct. 1.
Additionally, the restoration comes at a cost to future capability, including reduced investment in the recapitalization and modernization of the combat fleet, he said.