Michigan Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D) and Gary Peters (D) are urging senior appropriators to fully fund the Air Force’s A-10 “Warthog” fleet and scrap the service's plan to move some of the aircraft into backup status.
“Given the United States’ current military engagements in the Middle East fighting against [the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria], and protecting NATO countries in Eastern Europe, the aircraft program must be continued until a suitable alternative is in place,” the pair said in a letter to Senate Appropriations Defense subpanel chairman Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and ranking member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).
Michigan is home to assortment of around 20 Warthogs at Selfridge Air National Guard Base. The installation employs over 4,000 full-time civilian and military personnel and pumps hundreds of millions into the local economy annually.
Stabenow and Peters also “oppose efforts to cut the A-10 program piece by piece so that it cannot complete its missions.”