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FoxtrotOscar
01-28-18, 01:55 PM
With first A-10 strikes in Afghanistan, Marines call in the heat on the Taliban

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Two sorties of A-10C Thunderbolt II aircraft struck Taliban militants in Helmand province, Afghanistan, on Jan. 24. It’s the first series of strikes by the aircraft since its return to Afghanistan on Jan. 19.

The aircraft, commonly referred as the Warthog, has been absent from Afghanistan since 2014 as America began rapidly withdrawing forces from the region.

The A-10 is one of the military’s most beloved aircraft, especially in Afghanistan, where the plane’s 30mm cannon has dealt punishing blows to Taliban fighters for years.

“The A-10 kinetic strikes were in support of an Afghan National Defense and Security Forces patrol that was being engaged with small arms and a PK machine gun,” an air officer with Task Force Southwest told Marine Corps Times.

The Marine task force commander called in for approval of the strike, while a U.S. Army drone marked the target. It was a “joint effort in support of our ANDSF ground force partners,” the air officer said.

The return of the A-10 is a part of plan by Gen. John Nicholson, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, to bolster air and strike assets in theater to support U.S. advisers as they begin to embed with partner forces close to the front lines of combat.

The new rotation of Marines with Task Force Southwest and the pending deployment of the Army’s 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade, will be the first units authorized to advise at the Kandak, or battalion level.

The A-10s were flexed to Afghanistan as operations against ISIS in Iraq and Syria have begun to rapidly wind down.

The terror group has lost all of its urban terrain, and clings onto a few scant towns and villages along the middle Euphrates River valley.

Kegler300
01-28-18, 05:51 PM
I love the A-10!

FistFu68
01-28-18, 08:05 PM
Lite their a$$e$ UP

Rattlesnake
01-28-18, 11:48 PM
The Warthog is one bada$$ plane.

m14ed
01-29-18, 04:08 AM
Why does the US Airforce keep trying to $hitcan that warbird ?

ONE bad-a$$ed piec3 of gear that gets the job done, then brings the pilot home ....

Zulu 36
01-29-18, 05:15 AM
Why does the US Airforce keep trying to $hitcan that warbird ?

ONE bad-a$$ed piec3 of gear that gets the job done, then brings the pilot home ....


Simple reason: it's ugly, it's slow, and it isn't a fighter aircraft. They can get rid of it once there is an effective A-11 in place to take over. Not an F-35 or F-22, but an A-11.

Mongoose
01-29-18, 06:06 AM
Chris, I like ugly....war is ugly.....and the A-10 is killing ugly azzholes. That being said......we had " Puff " in the Nam. Another devastating piece of ugly.

Tennessee Top
01-29-18, 10:19 AM
Brrrrrrrrrrt...

FistFu68
01-29-18, 01:15 PM
Fighter pilots make War movies Bomber pilots make History :beer:

Zulu 36
01-29-18, 03:56 PM
Chris, I like ugly....war is ugly.....and the A-10 is killing ugly azzholes. That being said......we had " Puff " in the Nam. Another devastating piece of ugly.

Well, you know the A-10 must be effective since every time the Air Force tries to get rid of it, the Congressional switchboards lights up with calls from Marine and Army infantry vets, *****ing. Moreover, they get letters from soldiers in allied armies, like the Brits, Germans, Poles, and others who have been helped out by the Warthog in the sandbox. Gotta pay attention to stuff like that when you're a Congresscritter.

It's a bad ass airplane. My old Air Guard unit flies them now.

Mongoose
01-30-18, 05:56 AM
I remember in the Nam our air support came in several forms. I as well as others never trusted the accuracy of Carrier Pilots. Our Chopper gunships and F.O."s , were our best protection. We loved the refreshing smell of sulfur and gun powder in the morning. In the evenings we leaned toward the exhilarating smell of Napalm. Just saying....