A-10 jets are again heading for war

Afghanistan is 188th’s next stop

— The Arkansas National Guard’s 188th Fighter Wing is headed back to Afghanistan next summer, just two years after its last deployment.

The 188th deployed A-10 Warthog planes and about 300 airmen in April 2010 to Kandahar in southern Afghanistan, where they patrolled the skies and provided close air support to ground troops fighting in the valleys and mountain passes. This deployment is expected to be no different.

Brig. Gen. Dwight Balch, commander of the Arkansas Air National Guard, announced the Afghanistan deployment to the Little Rock Air Force Base Community Council earlier this month.

“There have been discussions for quite a while,” said Col. Tom Anderson, 188th commander, about another deployment. The A-10 is in high demand in Afghanistan these days. “This, I think, is not going to be atypical of our [operational] tempo as we move forward.”

The Warthog is used extensively in Afghanistan as ground troops push farther into remote mountains and desolate desert where artillery and other support can’t go. The A-10 specializes in close air support; with heavy armor protecting its cockpit, the plane is built around a 30mm Gatling gun that is used to strafe ridges and clear the way for ground troops to advance. It can also carry a heavy load of precision bombs that use laser and GPS technology.

The plane can circle ground troops for hours, providing cover as long as needed.

The new deployment falls within the same window of another major rotation of Arkansas troops next year. The 39th Infantry Brigade, Arkansas’ largest National Guard unit, is to deploy to Afghanistan late next summer as well.

Currently, Arkansas has a 60-member Agricultural Development Team in Afghanistan and the 77th Theater Aviation Brigade is deployed to southern Iraq. Both are expected to return home around year’s end.

Little Rock Air Force Base is expected to continue deployments to Afghanistan and the surrounding area as it has been for more than a decade. It currently has about 700 airmen deployed.

In the last deployment, the 188th flew more hours over two months in Afghanistan than it would in a typical year at home.

“It’s a good airframe and it’s in high demand,” Anderson said of the A-10.

That demand for the Warthog, which went out of production in the early 1980s, is likely to increase even more in coming years as allied nations begin to pull out of Afghanistan as planned. August has been the deadliest month for ground troops in the 10-year-old Afghanistan war.

According to The Associated Press, 66 U.S. troops and 14 NATO troops have been killed in action this month bringing the year’s tally to 402 international troops killed — including 299 Americans.

In Afghanistan last year, ground troops would approach members of the 188th who wore A-10 patches on their flight suits and thank them, sharing stories of being out on patrol and having one of their planes come in and clear away enemy fire.

“It seems that [transition] was a blessing in disguise,” Anderson said. “The A-10 is the airframe of choice for most of our engagements these days.”

Front Section, Pages 1 on 08/31/2011

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