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Highest-time A-10 pilot ever
Seven thousand five hundred hours is 312 and a half days. It’s also a record that will never be beaten. With the clock inching toward midnight on the divestiture of the A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft, there are no pilots close enough in hours behind the “Warthog’s” stick to even come close to the bar set by Lt. Col. John “Karl” Marks.
As told by Mr. Bob Jennings, 442d Fighter Wing Public Affairs, in the article Living legend and highest-time A-10 pilot “Karl” Marks retires, since Marks retired on Aug. 23, 2024, in a ceremony held in the 5-Bay maintenance hangar on Whiteman Air Force Base (AFB), Mo., his name will go down in history as the highest-time A-10 pilot ever.
Marks’ story spans almost four decades, beginning during the Cold War.
23 tanks destroyed in one day
One of his most memorable deployments was during Operation Desert Storm. On February 25, 1991–at just 26 years old–then-1st. Lt. Marks and flight lead, Capt. Eric “Fish” Solomonson flew a trio of missions over Kuwait and Iraq, destroying 23 Iraqi tanks, using infrared AGM-65 missiles and the infamous GAU-8 cannon. Mission planning 30-years ago consisted of paper maps and cardstock lineup cards. Flying was far less automated and correcting for dive angle and airspeed was a must. Direct hits were annotated with a grease pencil on the inside of the canopy and battle damage assessments were written on the walls of the debrief room upon return. One day, three missions, all ordnance expended – a wildly successful day and campaign for these two attack pilots.
Since then, he’s deployed 12 more times, responding to 48 troops-in-contact situations over 358 combat sorties.
During his 1161 combat hours, Marks expended 39,340 rounds of 30mm ammunition, dropped nearly 350 bombs, and fired 59 Maverick missiles.
Outside of combat, Marks fired another 141,500 rounds, bringing his total to 180,840 30mm rounds.
Marks’s prowess in battle earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross, 18 Air Medals, and 11 Aerial Achievement Medals, among many other citations and awards.
“I’m glad he’s on our side,” said Col. Mike Leonas, the 442d Fighter Wing Commander. “I wouldn’t want to fight him.”
Highest-time A-10 pilot’s legacy
It’s obvious Marks would have preferred at least one more combat deployment.
Retired Major General Brian Borgen, the presiding official, recounted a story from 2002 when Borgen was chosen to deploy as part of a group of four to Afghanistan, but Marks was not. Marks confronted Borgen in the hallway.
“He’s like ‘WTF? Why am I not going?’“ Borgen said. “And he was serious. He was angry at me.”
Marks said he considers it a compliment that Borgen often told him “Karl, we didn’t hire you for your personality.”
Lt. Col. “Karl” Marks leaves a legacy bigger than just total hours in the A-10 and rounds expended, though. Of his 7500 hours, nearly a third – 2480 – were spent in an instructor pilot role, and 598 were evaluator hours, ensuring younger pilots had the training and met the qualifications they needed to go to war – and more importantly, to come back.
Moreover, the number people attending the ceremony spoke to the number of lives Marks touched, and the number of lives he saved, during his 37-year career. Past and present A-10 pilots of all ranks joined family and civilian friends, and even joint terminal attack controllers all the way from Germany to celebrate the culmination of nearly four decades of distinguished service.
Today’s Thunderbolt II
The first production A-10A was delivered to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, in October 1975. It was designed specifically for the close air support mission and had the ability to combine large military loads, long loiter and wide combat radius, which proved to be vital assets to the United States and its allies during Operation Desert Storm and Operation Noble Anvil.
In the Gulf War, A-10s had a mission capable rate of 95.7%, flew 8,100 sorties and launched 90% of the AGM-65 Maverick missiles.
Compared to today’s aircraft, the A-10 from 1991 seems primitive. Today, the engines are pretty much the same and the basic airframe hasn’t changed much; internally, though, it’s completely upgraded. The targeting pod now integrates with helmet-mounted display allowing not only for flight data to be displayed but also the target, the cannon now has a stabilization system to hold it on target while firing, GPS avionics advancements have led to GPS-guided weapons system integration, and additional systems can now automatically detect and respond to incoming threats with countermeasures.
Photo credit: Mr. Bob Jennings / U.S. Air Force
