The 354th Fighter Squadron and 354th Fighter Generation Squadron generated their last A-10C Thunderbolt II sortie at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (AFB) on Jun. 21, 2024.
According to a USAF news release, the “fini flight,” which was flown by Lt. Col. Patrick Chapman, commander of the 354th Fighter Squadron, occurred ahead of the inactivation of both of squadrons which will take place in September of this year.
As the final aircraft touched down, members of the 354th FS and 354th FGS reflected on the many missions and exercises the squadrons have supported. One such exercise, Cope Thunder 23-2, took place at multiple bases throughout the Philippines in preparation for the first Air Force Force Generation cycle.
“Being able to quickly generate aircraft, like deploying to the Philippines and moving assets to an area that we haven’t been to, set us up for success,” said Senior Airman Jacob Branson, 354th FGS dedicated crew chief.
The Bulldogs last deployment was to Al Dhafra Air Base from October 2023 to April 2024 in support of the first AFFORGEN cycle and was instrumental in developing attack leaders and deploying combat airpower.
“Our most recent deployment was an operationally challenging one,” said Chapman. “I’m proud of the ops and the maintenance team for stepping up to meet those challenges, which ultimately protected coalition lives during a very turbulent time in the Middle East.”
The inactivation of the 354th FS and 354th FGS comes as their assigned A-10s are divested as part of the Air Force’s modernization efforts, and as the base makes way for the planned arrival of the 492nd Special Operations Wing.
The 492nd Special Operations Wing (492 SOW) is a primary support unit of the Air Force Special Operations Command, the Air Force Component of the US Special Operations Command.
The wing is responsible for the training of Air Force special operations forces as well as AFSOC’s non-standard aviation program in support of Air Force Special Operations Forces throughout the world.
The 492nd SOW operates under the Total Force Integration (TFI) concept as the wing brings together the strengths of the active duty Air Force, the Air Force Reserve, the Air National Guard, Department of Defense civilians, and contract personnel to form an integrated training team dedicated to building new Air Commandos.
The unit provides mission qualification training in SOF aviation platforms to include AC-130J, U-28, C-146 as well as small unmanned aerial systems, medical element personnel, and AFSOC Security Forces. In addition to AFSOC personnel, the wing is responsible for educating and training other USSOCOM components and joint/interagency/coalition partners.
Photo credit: Senior Airman Vaughn Weber / U.S. Air Force
