Walsh: A-10 Cut Necessary

Sharp budget constraints left Air Force leadership with little choice but to eliminate the A-10 Thunderbolt II close-air-support aircraft, Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III told the House Armed Services Committee March 14. “I am an A-10 pilot by trade,” Welsh said. “Close air support is not an afterthought to me … but close air support is not an aircraft. It’s a mission, and we do it very, very well with a number of airplanes today,” he said. Eliminating the venerable “Warthog” would save $3.7 billion in out years, plus another $500 million in maintenance costs, Welsh said. Ultimately, he said, the A-10 is a victim of sequestration and other cuts, from which it will take 10 years to recover.