WARTHOGS UNLEASHED

overview

Book is currently in the research phase - see my newly written Chapter 1 and Chapter 3!

"WARTHOGS UNLEASHED” will explore the combat history of the A-10 "Warthog" from 1990 thru today’s current operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Although WARTHOGS UNLEASHED (WU) is written by a combat-experienced A-10 pilot, its style will endeavor to allow the non-flying reader to comprehend what it is like to pilot the world’s greatest ground-attack fighter aircraft. From 1990 onwards, the A-10 has wrecked-havoc on the armies of various dictators and terrorist groups – often with little or no publicity.  

This book’s first section will fill in these gaps of that combat record.  The vast majority of books about the A-10 were written in the early 1980’s and 90’s.  WU will only briefly discuss the design era, inception or the first 15 years of its service (1975-90).  These were periods of no combat for the A-10 and include the first time that USAF commanders begin to make plans to mothball the A-10 fleet. This book will begin by covering the Persian Gulf War in 1990-91 where a small A-10 fleet of non-modernized aircraft laid waste to large numbers of Iraqi tanks, armored personnel carriers and other vehicles.

Besides the Persian Gulf War the A-10 has been involved in five subsequent “Air Wars” (the author's term).  The Air War is a uniquely American method for fighting and winning wars in Europe, North Africa and Southwest Asia.  It may shock many to know that the A-10 has been flying combat missions almost continuously since 1994 - sometimes on several fronts as once.   This book will cover all the Air Wars that the A-10 has been engaged in over the last 25 years. 

The next chapter will include the A-10 community’s self-help effort to modernize itself for the latest wars.  The third section will showcase the Warthog in the movies, television and in social media.  Finally, the last chapter will discuss the USAF’s three major failed efforts to retire the aircraft, including the last one in 2015.  This exciting, upbeat book will be your passport in the exhilarating world of Warthog flying and operations in some of the most dangerous places in the world.  “Airpower!”