McCain vows to 'reverse' A-10 retirement process

“We will be working hard and most likely reverse that decision in the defense authorization bill,” McCain, Republican chairman of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee, said Friday.

“That was a compromise that was made last year in response to the Air Force’s misguided attempt to retire all the A-10s,” McCain said, noting that A-10 “Warthogs” have since been deployed to Iraq to combat Islamic State militants.

The Air Force has proposed retiring the nation’s entire fleet of nearly 300 remaining A-10s by 2019 to save some $4 billion to put toward development of the next-generation F-35 stealth fighter. Congress stopped that plan last year but allowed the Air Force to put up to 36 A-10s in “backup aircraft-inventory” status this fiscal year, and the Air Force said it will shift A-10 maintenance staff and other resources to the F-35.

“It’s not a huge deal in terms of the number of A-10s there at Davis-Monthan — just standing down nine (planes) into non-maintenance status is not what we wanted, but it certainly is a small item as compared to the desire to retire all of them,” McCain said.

“We’ve made it clear to the Air Force that we will not authorize further reductions in the A-10’s status until such time as the Air Force has an adequate replacement for the A-10, which they do not have,” McCain said. “I can assure you, it’s a very high priority for the committee.”

Rep. Martha McSally, R-Tucson, a former A-10 combat pilot and squadron commander, said in an interview she was troubled by the timing and nature of the moves to backup status, calling the planned cuts at D-M “disproportionate.”

McSally said she felt blindsided by the announcement, after having the chief of the staff of the Air Force in for talks at her office a couple of weeks ago.

“I’m kind of frustrated because these were compromises agreed to before I got into office,” she said. “We have limited options to stop it, but I do want to provide tight oversight to the process.”

The Air Force hasn’t said which of D-M’s three A-10 squadrons will be affected by the moves. D-M’s A-10 flying contingent is comprised of one active duty combat squadron, the 354th Fighter Squadron, and two flying training squadrons, the active-duty 357th Fighter Squadron and the Reserve 47th Fighter Squadron.

In announcing the cuts Feb. 27, the Air Force said only that it would put nine planes at D-M in backup status, along with six at Moody Air Force Base and three at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

Taking six A-10s at D-M out of active service could affect hundreds of airmen at the base, which pumps nearly $1 billion into the local economy annually.

McSally said she warned last fall during her election campaign that allowing the Air Force to make any cuts could affect D-M deeply, adding that she has seen documents indicating that D-M’s 354th Fighter Squadron would be among the first units cut under the A-10 divestment plan.

The 354th currently has a dozen of its planes deployed to Europe as part of NATO exercises in response to Russian moves in Ukraine.

McSally said she hopes the D-M cuts will be spread equally among the three A-10 squadrons, adding that deeper cuts to the 354th wouldn’t make sense while about half of its planes are deployed in Europe.

“It doesn’t make sense for you to bring a fighter squadron down to 12 primary aircraft assigned — it’s not how we are organized, it’s not how we fight,” she said.

She noted that the Air Force in 2013 shut down the last A-10 unit in Europe, at Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany.

“You can’t make this stuff up — you close down one squadron, then you deploy another one,” McSally said, adding that she has asked the Air Force to detail the cost difference of deploying aircraft versus basing them in Europe.

A Davis-Monthan spokeswoman said base officials have received no more details on the moves to backup inventory but expect to find out in the coming weeks.