Air Force secretary: A-10s in Fort Wayne ‘5 or 10 years at least’

[Kippy]

http://wane.com/2017/06/07/air-force-secretary-a-10s-in-fort-wayne-5-or-10-years-at-least/

 

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) The Air Force has committed the A-10 fighter jet to the Fort Wayne Air National Guard’s 122nd Fighter Wing for “the foreseeable future, which is five or ten years at least.”

 

In a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday, U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly questioned Air Force Secretary Dr. Heather Wilson and Air Force Chief of Staff General David Goldfein on the Air Force’s commitment to the 122nd’s air combat future. Both officials made that commitment.

 

Here is the exchange:

 

 

Dr. Heather Wilson, Secretary of the Air Force, testifies during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday, June 6, 2017.

Donnelly: “I want to make sure that this commitment to maintaining a manned air combat mission at Fort Wayne will be kept.”

 

Wilson: “Senator, the A-10 is at Fort Wayne and we have no intention of removing it. It’s there for the foreseeable future and they’ll have that manned combat mission. We have no intention of changing that.”

 

Goldfein: “The reality is we need that wing flying the A-10 right now, and so we made a decision in this budget to keep the A-10.”

 

Donnelly: “My question is how long does ‘right now’ last?”

 

Wilson: “We’re keeping the A-10s for the foreseeable future, which is five or ten years at least.”

 

As it sits right now, it seems that A-10s will remain flying until 2023-2028. Huzzah!

[SageOT]

Interesting. Last year the wing was hinting at 2-3 years then a swap to F16s.

 

Guess that plan changed lol.

 

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[frixon28]

Awesome