A-10 retirement

[HeyEng]

Good video from Ward Carrol about the projected retirement of the A-10 and its effects on pilot training and GFM.

 

[Chicken]

I remember when they talked about retiring the A10 when I was in college..I looked it up on AltaVista.

[HeyEng]

1 hour ago, Chicken said:

I remember when they talked about retiring the A10 when I was in college..I looked it up on AltaVista.

Sounds like they are serious this time and they want to do it quickly.

If you are a young A-10 pilot it sounds like you will be twiddling your thumbs waiting on a retraining slot!

[Hobo]

The jet is done for unfortunately. Hawg guard guys who finished UPT in the last ~4 months were not given B-course dates and have had to find other homes. AD not sure but I would assume they stopped around the same timeframe. The latest is that the final B-Course is already happening and its a messed up situation where the flying portion isn't going to be done at DM. Nobody really knows what's going to happen to all the dudes graduating this year if big AF gets its way with the retirement in 26. Been straight up uncertainty for about a year and half now for anyone in the pipeline for the Hawg and the outcome has been based purely on where you are in the pipeline.

Edited July 8 by Hobo

[brabus]

They'll be retrained into something - EX or 35 probably make the most sense. They may “burn” some time not doing a whole lot, but it’ll be fine in the long run. 

[busdriver]

The last MH-53 graduate from Kirtland started the CV-22 course the following week.

We've been here before.

[Bigred]

2 hours ago, Hobo said:

The jet is done for unfortunately. Hawg guard guys who finished UPT in the last ~4 months were not given B-course dates and have had to find other homes. AD not sure but I would assume they stopped around the same timeframe. The latest is that the final B-Course is already happening and it’s a messed up situation where the flying portion isn't going to be done at DM. Nobody really knows what's going to happen to all the dudes graduating this year if big AF gets its way with the retirement in 26. Been straight up uncertainty for about a year and half now for anyone in the pipeline for the Hawg and the outcome has been based purely on where you are in the pipeline.

U-2 bros right now 

 

[Clark Griswold]

Good video and explanation from Pako on the COCOM demand / no feedback problem.  

As to the A-10s and replacing it, my druthers would be to ask for as many EXs as possible to replace the retiring Hawgs.  Make it simple enough that Congress can understand it and end up with more 4+ long range modern fighters while beginning to consolidate the AF to one type of 4+ gen fighter, the EX.  

 

[Boomer6]

Good luck trying to get strike eagle B-course dates anytime soon... What a shame.

[Sua Sponte]

 

[DirkDiggler]

On 7/8/2025 at 2:59 PM, brabus said:

They'll be retrained into something - EX or 35 probably make the most sense. They may “burn” some time not doing a whole lot, but it’ll be fine in the long run. 

We've had a couple come through the HC-130J FTU this year.  Not sure of their individual stories.

[brabus]

1 hour ago, DirkDiggler said:

We've had a couple come through the HC-130J FTU this year.  Not sure of their individual stories.

Interesting, probably some “non-standard” or personal reasons driving those. 

[HuggyU2]

On 7/11/2025 at 1:21 AM, DirkDiggler said:

We've had a couple come through the HC-130J FTU this year.  

Great airplane. 
Great mission. 

Edited Monday at 04:12 AM by HuggyU2