Some USAF A-10 “Warthogs” are stationed in Poland.
354th EFS (Expeditionary Fighter Squadron) has deployed again to Poland.
This time the A-10s maintain their presence at the Polish 32nd Air Base located in Łask, near Łódź, in the central part of the country. The aim of their presence, according to the statements made by the base press officer that emerged in a variety of media, is to participate in a joint exercise with the Polish Air Force, within the scope of the Air Force Theater Security Package.
The overall goal of the NATO initiative, undertaken in the light of the Ukrainian crisis, is to reassure the allies of the NATO eastern flank, and to maintain collective defense capabilities.
Earlier on, the Thunderbolts were stationed (temporarily) at the Polish Powidz Airbase. Notably, this time the Warthog detachment is larger (includes 12 examples), and the deployment itself is to be longer, as it is going to last until the end of July, according to the rumors.
It is worth noting that this time the deployment did not get that much media attention, in comparison with the previous presence of the A-10 in Poland. The spotters, who published the photos of the Warthogs online were the first signs of their presence in the region.
The A-10 that are currently stationed in Poland come from the 355th Fighter Wing which is based at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, in Arizona. They have been operating in Mid-Eastern Europe for some time now, visiting Poland, Bulgaria or Romania, participating in a variety of exercises (e.g. the Dragoon Ride operation).
Image credit: U.S. Air Force
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In regard to it’s dealings with the A-10 and it’s CAS mission..the Air Force is out of control.. The statements below are pretty incriminating..and border on treason, especially as it pertains to our ground troops.
“I can’t wait to be relieved of the burdens of close air support,” Maj. Gen. James Post, the vice commander of Air Combat Command, allegedly told a collection of officers at a training session in August 2014.”
“As with his now notorious warning that service members would be committing treason if they communicated with Congress about the successes of the A-10 Warthog, Post seems to speak for the id of Air Force headquarters’ true hostility towards the close air support mission.”
“Air Force four-stars are working hard to deny this hostility to the public and Congress, but their abhorrence of the mission has been demonstrated through 70 years of Air Force headquarters’ budget decisions and combat actions that have consistently short-changed close air support.”.