Originally Posted by
rickair7777
I think the AF was trying to control all FW flying, they tried and failed to seize naval aviation after WW-II. I think the AF controlled or tried to control RW also but the army threw the yellow flag on that.
The AF never really wanted the A-10, they did not want to be in the cas bidness at all...they only took it to keep others from getting a FW tactical jet. When budgets got tight after the cold war they tried to discard all of the A-10's in order to fund a few more pointy nose airplanes, o-clubs, and golf courses, but big DoD and congress canx that idea. Congress does occasionally display remarkable vision.
When the AF tried to shut it down, the marines were on the verge of taking some of the airframes...that would have been a good thing. Maybe next time.
From what I remember - the Marines were looking at getting them from the AF right before and/or after the Gulf War. Like someone else said - they were looking at sending them to the boneyard - but they had a good performance during the Gulf War too - especially once they moved them up to (I think) a 10,000' hard deck (reference the 'Warthogs in the Gulf' book).
I remember when I first selected for the Strike/Fighter pipeline in late '91, I was told that there was a possibilty that I could have great timing for being in the intial cadre of Marine A-10 pilots. Since it was one of my favorties planes - I thought that would be just great!
But - one problem the Marines had with the plane was its' lack of Expeditionary capability - meaning not STOVL like the Harrier and not carrier capable like the Hornet; otherwise, I worked right beside them out of Al Jaber in 2003
USMCFLYR