Free Republic

European Command said this week that 12 A-10 Thunderbolts would be deployed to Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve, which was formed after Russia's intervention in Ukraine over the past year. ... The Air Force said besides operating in Germany, the A-10s will be forward deployed to other partner nations in Eastern Europe. U.S. forces have operated out of bases in Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and Poland, among others, in the past year. The A-10, also known as the "Warthog," was designed in the 1970s to support ground troops in Europe against the tanks and armored vehicles...

Save the Apache, Lose the Gold Plating By David H. HackworthAs our magnificent warriors return from Iraq, they will tell the folks who sweated them out at home what really went down during their bold march to Baghdad and will catch them up on all the inside skinny concerning the war's winners and losers.              At first glance, one of the big equipment losers is the U.S. Army's crown jewel, the Longbow Apache helicopter gunship (AH-64D model). Especially since a Longbow squadron got ventilated March 24 over the city of Karbala when 34 of these $24 million birds –...

CAMP DOHA, KUWAIT -- Two A-10 "Warthog" aircraft that sustained heavy fire on Tuesday (April 8) were performing an unusual mission: road reconnaissance in advance of friendly forces making their way through the streets of Baghdad, according to air officers here. One of the planes was downed by an Iraqi surface-to-air missile, while the other was able to limp back to a friendly airfield at Tallil, Iraq. The Air Force's slow and low-flying A-10s had performed the "road recce" mission earlier in Operation Iraqi Freedom, searching for Iraqi ground forces that might threaten coalition troops on the move northward through...

This morning's brief e-mail from Ian to family and friends intersected the headline news. Hello, everyone. Since it's in the news, I can write and tell you. One of our planes was shot down over Baghdad. The pilot had to eject. Other A-10's scrambled to perform combat search and rescue. His wingman was shot at and was able to land at the forward operating location where we are also located. I've worked with the pilot for over 2 years and have crewed the jet for weeks during this deployment. Thank God he was rescued in time. This was probably not...

American ground forces are using air power to destroy Iraqi positions in southern Iraq. Marines have been searching a bombed compound in the port city of Umm Qasr that had been sheltering about 120 Iraqi soldiers. They engaged in a heavy firefight, with the Iraqis using tanks that destroyed one building. A US Marines Harrier jump jet from a ship in the Persian Gulf flew over and dropped two 500-pound bombs on the target. The Marines were checking for survivors. Elsewhere, Marines, trying to take the city of Nasiriya, say they are facing a force of about 500 Iraqi troops...