Commentary: Why is there an A-10 on display at Vance AFB?

  • Published
  • By Col. Russ Mack
  • 71st Flying Training Wing commander
VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Even though A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft have never been stationed at Vance Air Force Base, there is one here now. Why?

Some might say because the current wing commander flew one in combat. And yes, the sight of a Warthog does give me a strong sense of pride. But that's not the main reason we have a close air support aircraft sporting a 30 mm Gatling gun on static display.

The A-10 is one of a variety of aircraft our student pilots may fly once they graduate from Joint Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training. But the A-10 is unusual for a characteristic it shares with the F-22 Raptor fighter aircraft - there are no two-seat trainers.

When a brand new Air Force pilot flies solo for the first time in an A-10, they are on their own. There is no back-seat flight instructor, no left-seat aircraft commander and no combat system operator in the trunk to help them along.

An A-10 pilot on that first flight takes on a singular, solemn responsibility for their actions. How well they handle that awesome task depends a great deal on the skills, and the attitude, we instill during the 54 weeks Vance has the honor, and burden, of training the Air Force's future.

So we are fortunate to have an A-10 on static display here as a regular reminder of Team Vance's extremely important mission -- "...deliver world-class Joint Pilots..."

We are also fortunate that this particular A-10 was assigned to Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, as a training device for Airmen learning to maintain the "Hawg." With fewer A-10s in the inventory, the Air Force is training fewer maintainers.

This A-10 was scheduled for transfer to the aircraft bone yard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., for permanent retirement. But when the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, offered Vance the chance to use the A-10 as a static display, we jumped at the opportunity.

Being in the right place at the right time is the practical reason we now have an A-10 at Vance.

And I hope this beautiful (just ask any soldier in need of close air support) aircraft parked in the trees by the softball fields will remind our current student pilots of the enormous responsibility our nation places on their shoulders.

I hope it reminds them that flying Air Force war-fighting aircraft is a very serious business.
I hope this ground-attack aircraft inspires those that may be thinking about a career in our Air Force.

I hope it is a testament to all of our brothers and sisters in arms that are downrange securing our freedom -- especially those in close contact with the enemy.

And I hope, when the families of our student pilots come to town for graduation, they see this front-line aircraft and realize the awesome power our nation projects through a combination of amazingly capable aircraft and their equally capable sons and daughters.