I flew the A-10 for 12 years and spent 3 on the ground with the Army as an ALO/JTAC. It is unfortunate for the ground pounders that this jet is going away. This isn't about saving money. It's about saving lives. There is nothing out there that can even compare to the amount of destruction, accuracy and flexibility that the A-10 can provide. Retire the A-10, fine but lets redesign it and help out our bros on the ground. What the brass fails to see is the AF is a support agency. We support the troops on the ground at all levels. You can't do that with a F-35 with no gun (150 rds of 20 MM) and a few bombs with no loiter time.