An 11th-hour ambush by a group of House Republicans that would retire the military’s entire A-10 aircraft fleet, including the planes based at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township, was fought off by U.S. Rep. Candice Miller during an intense Capitol Hill battle over the new defense budget.
A bipartisan amendment introduced by Miller, a Harrison Township Republican, and Rep. Ron Barber, an Arizona Democrat, prevailed on a 300-114 vote on Thursday night as lawmakers wrapped up the Pentagon budget for fiscal year 2015. Earlier this year, the A-10s, known affectionately as “Warthogs,” seemed to be safe from the Defense Department budget axe.
The $601 billion defense authorization bill approved by the House ignored numerous cuts proposed by the Pentagon targeted at a wide array of planes, ships and military bases. But on Thursday the lawmakers who serve on the House Appropriations Committee rose up in a final attempt to preserve the spending cuts proposed by the Defense Department. Air Force officials have said that retiring the Cold War-era A-10 Thunderbolt would save $4 billion. But supporters of the A-10 fleet argued that there is no equivalent plane ready to provide troops with close-air support.
Miller stepped up and convinced her House colleagues that preserving the A-10 fleet for at least another year would not present fiscal problems for the defense budget. “Please join me in making certain that this House once again sends the message that our troops engaged in combat deserve the best possible close-air support by supporting my amendment to protect the A-10 Thunderbolt,” Miller said in a memo to House members.
Earlier this year, the Air Force hoped to retire all 326 A-10s, stationed across the U.S. at Air National Guard facilities. At Selfridge, Michigan’s largest military site, the proposal would retire the base’s 18 A-10s and eliminate 275 Air National Guard positions and 85 full-time civilian and Air Force jobs. That put the future of the107th Fighter Squadron — a unit formed decades ago known as the “Red Devils” – in jeopardy. “The A-10 has been the champion and workhorse aircraft in Iraq and Afghanistan. It might be old, but it’s effective, and there currently isn’t another aircraft that can take its place,”Miller said in a statement.
“If our combat troops on the ground say that they believe in the A-10, and that it’s ‘the best’ when it comes to close air support, we should listen, and we did. (The vote) in the House is testament to the fleet’s proven success of protecting our troops on the ground, and I will continue to fight to keep the fleet operational until there is a suitable replacement that our troops can trust to protect them in combat.”
Army brass say the A-10 is uniquely able to protect ground troops at low speeds with bombs and rotary machine guns and also perform its traditional role as a “tank buster.” But the Air Force has said other aircraft can provide similar ground support and also perform other missions. Top officers consider the 1970s-era A-10 a one-dimensional weapon that is obsolete and should be replaced.
Sumber: macombdaily.com
