Washington ― Michigan’s congressional delegation is aiming to use the upcoming defense policy bill to block the Air Force from retiring the A-10 “Warthog” Thunderbolt II “early” in 2026 to ensure the squadron stays at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Macomb County into 2027.
Their goal is to minimize the gap between the time when the A-10s will roll out of Selfridge and a replacement flying mission, F-15EX fighters, is supposed to arrive in 2028 in an effort to maintain the workforce of pilots and maintenance staff for the aircraft.
Led by U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett, a Charlotte Republican, Michigan lawmakers wrote Wednesday to the leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, asking them to use language that requires the Air Force to maintain a minimum fleet size of 162 A-10 aircraft and prohibits early retirement of the A-10s without the approval of Congress.
“This would basically do a transition between the two (platforms) without a significant or sizable gap between them,” Barrett told The Detroit News. “And that’s the big issue we’re trying to stop. Now that we have the commitment for the new F-15EX aircraft, we don’t want the A-10s to go dormant early and present a gap.”
The lawmakers worry that a gap of a year or two between flying missions would potentially see the staff at Selfridge devoted to pilot training, maintenance and other tasks reassigned or placed elsewhere without aircraft at the base.
“Then all of a sudden, you’re scrambling to get them back and build back up,” Barrett said.
His letter comes as members of the committees are meeting to negotiate the final text of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Both the Senate and House-passed versions of the NDAA included language barring early A-10 retirements, but the lawmakers say the House-passed language is stronger “and will ensure the A-10 Thunderbolt II Aircraft fleet cannot be retired earlier than planned,” they wrote.
All members of Michigan’s delegation, including Democratic Sens. Gary Peters of Bloomfield Township and Elissa Slotkin of Holly, signed onto the letter except Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit. Peters and Slotkin both sit on the Senate Armed Services panel.
Idaho’s congressional delegation also joined the letter, including GOP Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, whose state hosts an A-10 squadron at Gowen Field that is set to be replaced with F-16s.
“Early retirement of the A-10 Thunderbolt II Aircraft fleet could negatively impact Air National Guard Bases like Selfridge in Michigan and Gowen Field in Idaho,” the lawmakers wrote.
“While both bases have planned for the divestment of the A-10s prior to receiving the F-15EXs and the F-16s, an expedited retirement of the A-10s would have negative consequences on their workforce, including pilots losing currency and certification, as well as maintaining proficiency due to the lack of airframes on which to work.”
The Air Force has long planned to divest the aging A-10 Thunderbolt fleet to spend instead on next-generation aircraft.
The Maryland Air National Guard, based in eastern Baltimore County, deactivated its last remaining A-10s last month, sending most to a boneyard in Arizona and two to Selfridge in Harrison Township, Michigan.
A general picked to serve as the next chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, Kenneth S. Wilsbach, this month reiterated the Pentagon’s plans to send a squadron of F-15EX fighter aircraft to Selfridge on time in 2028, assuming the required infrastructure upgrades are complete.
More: Air Force nominee talks timing of new F-15EX jets arrival at Selfridge
Wilsbach was responding to a question from Slotkin, who asked him about reports that bureaucrats at the Pentagon were looking to delay or “push out” the arrival of the F-15EXs beyond the 2028 date announced by President Donald Trump in April in Michigan.
That, Slotkin worried, would create a gap between when the A-10s’ pilots and personnel depart and the arrival, potentially years later, of the F-15EXs, causing the base to “lose all that good training and manpower that we have.”
Wilsbach said the Air Force would have to train the new crews and maintenance personnel as they transition from the A-10 to the F-15EX, a process that could take six to 18 months.
“So we’ll have to work on that timing,” Wilsbach said.
Michigan’s delegation and state officials lobbied for over a decade for a fighter mission to replace the A-10 Thunderbolt II squadron at Selfridge that is set to be retired starting next year.
Overruling the Air Force, Trump in late April said he’d send 21 brand-new F-15EXs to the base located on Lake St. Clair, northeast of Detroit, starting in 2028 in a gesture that Trump said should “save this place.”
mburke@detroitnews.com
