JaBraun and Courtney were in the home stretch. He'd be home soon, in a few weeks. Instead, they called her out of class and sent her home to find two soldiers in their Class A uniforms.FORT WAYNE – Fort Wayne’s Air National Guard base would lose its nearly 20-plane fighter squadron but gain half as many manned surveillance aircraft under plans announced Friday.
The commander of the 122nd Fighter Wing said the Air Force is recommending that the A-10 jets the base has flown in recent years be retired and replaced with MC-12 turboprop planes.
The proposal would keep the complex open, but Col. David Augustine said he will still urge military officials and Congress to keep flying the A-10, nicknamed the Warthog, out of Fort Wayne.
“This in itself is good news for the community in that the base will not close as speculated,” Augustine said at a news conference there. “But if not reversed, it’s going to end a history and legacy of proud service flying fighter aircraft since 1947 at Fort Wayne Air National Guard base.”
The A-10 provides air support for combat troops on the ground. The MC-12, which has been flying since 2009, provides intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information for ground forces.
“It will be a total change in mission if it happens,” Lt. Col. Kevin Doyle, commander of the 163rd Fighter Squadron at the 122nd Fighter Wing, said in an interview.
The Air Force intends to retire the Warthogs at the Ferguson Road base this fall. There have been 16 to 18 that fly out of there, with previous plans to increase the number to 21, Augustine said. The Air Force will place nine to 11 of the MC-12 planes at the base starting Oct. 1, 2013.
Augustine said he doesn’t yet know how the conversion will affect employment levels, assignments and training. About 1,200 people work at the base east of Fort Wayne International Airport, more than 300 of them in full-time jobs. The government spends more than $58 million a year on the operation, including $43 million in pay and benefits.
If the base ends up with the MC-12, Augustine said, “we’ll fly it with honor and do the best job possible.”
The proposal will be part of the Department of Defense budget, which requires congressional approval. The elimination of more than 100 of the A-10 aircraft at five bases across the country is part of a Pentagon plan, mandated by the Budget Control Act, to cut $487 billion in spending over the next decade.
The A-10 is a model that dates to the 1970s. The Air National Guard base in Fort Smith, Ark., will lose its 20 Warthogs and get one unmanned drone in return, according to media reports. The Selfridge, Mich., Guard base will trade in its two-dozen A-10s for four aerial refueling aircraft.
Also, the Air Force announced Friday it will trim its ranks by 10,000 airmen next year, including 5,100 in the Air National Guard.
Augustine said Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger, head of the Indiana National Guard, will have a news conference Wednesday at the 122nd Fighter Wing to discuss the developments.
Augustine said more than $100 million has been spent on upgrades at the Fort Wayne base in the past 10 years as the 122nd Fighter Wing converted from the F-16 fighter jet to the A-10, with an ultimate goal of flying the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
“It think it’s a mixed message,” Mayor Tom Henry, who attended the news conference, said about Friday’s announcement. “First of all, it’s great news that the base is not closing and that we are going to retain airmen here. Unfortunately, they are going to be moving the A-10 out.”
Henry was among government officials, economic development leaders, defense industry employees and members of a local military support group who joined 122nd Fighter Wing airmen at the news conference.
“The level of local and community support I see today is unprecedented in my 30 years of military service,” Augustine said. “This community loves its military; it comes out in force.”
Sens. Dan Coats, R-Ind., and Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-3rd, issued statements saying they were pleased the 122nd Fighter Wing would retain a manned flying mission.
However, Coats said, “I remain concerned about the potential impact a change in mission would have on jobs and the ability of Indiana to contribute to our national defense.”
