TUCSON, AZ – Davis Monthan Air Force Base will see a small increase in personnel as the Air Force moves A-10 and HH-60 aircraft squadrons, one maintenance squadron and all the supporting personnel from Nellis AFB, Nevada. The move is part of the plan to move close air support and rescue missions to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base beginning in fiscal year 2022.
The plan, according to the Air Force, is to make the base “the Center of Excellence for Close Air Support (CAS) and rescue missions.”
The active duty combat squadron at Davis-Monthan will close.
One expert told the ADI, “If the Air Force actually follows through with the plan, the net personnel difference at Davis-Monthan will be close to what it is now. Under Air Force plan, both the 354FS (Operational) and 357FS (Training) will close. The remaining A-10s will be in the 47FS (Reserve Training Unit). If local impact is only thing that is important to people, then the changes won’t affect much if the numbers are accurate. It is a terrible plan if you are looking at this from a national security point of view. Ground Troops really lose on this cut, we don’t have enough combat coded A-10s as it is. Even if Congress prevents this fleet reduction, the Air Force will continue its backdoor divestment efforts by underfunding the fleet, which will result in nearly 50 percent of all A-10s currently in the 281 aircraft fleet being non-combat deployable.”
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The first phase of the proposed plan, released as part of the Department of the Air Force’s fiscal year 2022 budget request, is contingent on congressional approval of the retirement of 42 A-10 aircraft, 35 of which are at Davis-Monthan AFB. It is believed that approval could be tough to get, but the big guns appear to be determined.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley said in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee,
that while he’s “personally a very big fan” of the aircraft and that the cuts do create some risk, it is acceptable and the budget only represents a “modest decrease in the number of A-10s,” according to Air Force Magazine.
The A-10 Weapons Instructor Course and Test and Evaluation operations will transition in 2022. The HH-60 WIC, Test and combat-coded units to include the 88th Test and Evaluation Squadron, 66th Rescue Squadron, 58th Rescue Squadron, the 34th Weapons Squadron, and the 855th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron will move beginning in 2024.