Thunderbolts return to Europe

[Lex]

And it is 81-0991/DM not 81-0991 bl! It has a blue finband so it belongs to 354th FS!

[Canberra TT.18]

Hi,

The article mentions clearly 355th FS
But the mentiond A-10's are all form 354th FS, so is this the same deployment?

Pieter

[Stefan]

The article mentions clearly 355th FS
But the mentiond A-10's are all form 354th FS, so is this the same deployment?

Press release mentions 355th Fighter Wing, not Fighter Squadron.

[Canberra TT.18]

The article mentions clearly 355th FS
But the mentiond A-10's are all form 354th FS, so is this the same deployment?

Press release mentions 355th Fighter Wing, not Fighter Squadron.

My mistake

[signorino]

A little off-topic, but what can we expect in europe with "Theater Security Package (TSP)", only A-10?
As I understand in what is explained in airforce website there are more usaf aircraft incoming europe, or am I wrong?

[robertssb]

This is great news, glad to see them coming back to Europe, means a few more trips to Spangdahlem

[SquAdmin]

As I understand in what is explained in airforce website there are more usaf aircraft incoming europe, or am I wrong?

Yes, there will be more.

[AK01]

Tankers Clean 71 and 81 made it to Lajes today.
Guess they still had the A10's in trail. Arrival SP in 2 or 3 days i would say?

[Thunderbolt]

Heads-up guys

Today arrived at Lajes 12 A10s, all with tailcode DM as TABOR21 and 31 Flights.
Tankers are CLEAN71 and 81 both KC10s and a C17 as RCH365

They should depart from Lajes on Friday morning

[jp 74]

According to FF these A10C will be at Spang:

78-0650 DM
78-0651 DM
81-0945 DM ex SP
81-0956 DM ex SP
81-0960 DM ex SP
81-0965 DM ex SP
81-0966 DM ex SP
81-0988 DM ex SP
81-0991 DM ex SP
81-0992 DM ex SP
82-0647 DM ex SP
82-0656 DM ex SP

So a buckload of former ex Spang Hogs....

[gortje]

78-0650 DM = 82-0648 DM
78-0651 DM
81-0945 DM ex SP
81-0956 DM ex SP
81-0960 DM ex SP
81-0965 DM ex SP
81-0966 DM ex SP
81-0988 DM ex SP
81-0991 DM ex SP
81-0992 DM ex SP
82-0647 DM ex SP
82-0656 DM ex SP

[catbird]

the A10 are on the move dep lpla 9.44 dutch time heading to 43n20w

[catbird]

tabor 21 en 31 flight
clean 71

[gortje]

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — The Air Force will deploy 12 A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft and about 300 airmen from the States to Spangdahlem Air Base for six months, a move intended to bolster regional security as fighting continues to escalate in eastern Ukraine, the service announced Tuesday.

The close-air support Warthogs — which the Air Force has been pushing to retire from the fleet — are expected to arrive at Spangdahlem by the end of the week, said Capt. Sybil Taunton, spokeswoman for U.S. Air Forces in Europe–Air Forces Africa.
The European deployment is part of a so-called theater security package in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve, the military’s response to the Ukraine crisis.
“They will be here to augment the USAFE-AFAFRICA units already participating in Operation Atlantic Resolve exercises and flying training deployments,” Taunton said.
In addition to training with NATO allies, the A-10s will forward deploy to eastern European NATO nations, USAFE said in a news release.
Taunton said the command does not have specifics yet on which exercises and training events the planes will take part in.
“The U.S. Air Force’s forward presence in Europe area provides the support infrastructure needed to increase our current force and build new and deeper partnerships across the continent,” Lt. Gen. Tom Jones, USAFE-AFAFRICA vice commander, was quoted as saying in the news release.
The planes’ deployment marks the first theater security package to come to Europe, Taunton said. The Air Force has been conducting similar rotations in the Pacific region since 2004, USAFE said.
“We anticipate more rotations to come through,” Taunton said, with each subsequent one expected to last about six months.
“The airframes could vary.”
Though the future of the A-10 is uncertain — Air Force brass have pushed to retire the platform to free up funding for the more pricey F-35A — the service continues to call on the scrappy plane. The Pentagon has said the A-10 has been flying missions against Islamic State militants in recent months.
The A-10s and airmen are deploying from the 355th Fighter Wing at Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona.
When they arrive, most of the aircraft will be landing on familiar asphalt.
Ten of the 12 planes were part of the former 81st Fighter Squadron previously assigned to Spangdahlem, USAFE said.
The last A-10s to be permanently based in Europe left Spangdahlem in May 2013, after being stationed at the fighter base for nearly 20 years.
Spangdahlem lost its 21 A-10s in steep Air Force budget cutbacks and a shift at the time away from Europe to the Asia-Pacific region.
The planes departed less than a year before Russia’s incursion into eastern Ukraine.

Source: http://www.stripes.com/news/europe/a-10 ... M.facebook

[Wildpicture]

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