The Congressional Reduction of Military Pensions and Everything Thread

[Lahti]

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/25/chuck-hagel-pentagon-budget-troop-reduction

What rock is this author living under? Saying "Indeed, the most important difference between now and the period before the second world war is the existence of actual threats to global peace and stability. Seven and a half decades ago, the world was on the cusp of a global conflagration that would take the lives of an estimated 70 million people. The exact opposite is true in 2014. Today we are living in an era of historically unprecedented safety."

 

[Centermass]

Some good news for a change. Maybe now, members of Congress (Along with military pencil pushers and bean counters) will re-evaluate its worth.

US Air Force (USAF) Fairchild A-10C Thunderbolt II ground attacks jets have arrived in Kuwait to begin flying strike missions against Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria as part of Operation 'Inherent Resolve'.

The USAF public affairs office in Kuwait announced the deployment of the A-10C squadron on 24 November, saying the: "unit will work with coalition forces to support Operation 'Inherent Resolve' and other regional operations".

The USAF had already announced on 17 December that several A-10s from the 163rd Expeditionary Fighter Squadron had been deployed to an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia to support the reactivated 332nd Air Expeditionary Group.

Link

Congress has drafted a measure that would block retirement of US Air Force (USAF) Fairchild-Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II close air support (CAS) aircraft in 2015, according to legislative aides familiar with the deal.

The 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would prohibit the air force from retiring the aircraft because lawmakers said they are needed in Iraq, a senior committee staffer told IHS Jane's on 2 December. If approved before the congressional session concludes next week, the NDAA would provide USD350 million to "help the air force cover the cost of keeping the 100 A-10s they wanted to retire," the aide said.

Further, the measure permits the USAF to move up to 36 A-10s in the active component to 'backup flying status', a type of storage during which aircraft remain in a unit and are flown periodically to keep them in working order. This would allow the air force to move maintenance personnel from the A-10 programme to other career fields, according to a copy of the draft legislation viewed by IHS Jane's .

Link

 

[Gunz]

It didn't make sense to deprive that theatre of an aircraft perfectly suited to the immediate task just because the AF is phasing in an all-pupose replacement that's not fully operational yet. The F35 isn't doing anybody much good at the moment. Good for the Congresscritters this time.