Air Force looks to kill A-10 squadrons

Air Force Times:

For decades, the A-10 Thunderbolt II has been the favorite jet of children at airshows and grunts on the ground.

It’s slow. It’s ugly. But, it’s effective.

Air Force officials have confirmed the service is looking at complete cuts of entire fleets of aircraft because of tightening budgets. Single-mission planes are at the top of the list, putting the A-10 right in the crosshairs. The A-10 has almost exclusively been used for close-air support since it was introduced in 1977.

“A-10 was my first fighter. ... I love the airplane,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh said. “It is the best airplane in the world at what it does. It is not the best at a lot of other things. It’s capable in many areas. If we’re going to look at what we must divest, not what we want to divest, but what we must divest, we have to be very honest with ourselves inside the Air Force about how much we can afford.”
A vertical cut

Several Air Force officials have confirmed the A-10 is a likely target for eliminating an aircraft fleet under continued budget pressure. Removing the entire fleet instead of continuing to retire squadrons, called a “vertical cut” is more likely to save money in the long term because it also removes the infrastructure behind the jet.
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The A-10 is the best ground support aircraft in history.  The F-35 would be a very expensive and poor substitute and would weaken the Air Forces's contribution to combined arms operations.  While the Marine Corps has a much stronger attachment to using air power in support of ground units, the A-10 is, unfortunately, not a carrier capable plane so it would be unlikely to be taken up by the air wing.

It is still one of my favorite planes for what it does.  I would try to find a way to keep it.