…and A26 coin a/c like Special Kay…
When writing comments, I often think about your work at Edwards. And, yes, I saw the A-1 Skyraiders in ground support while in Vietnam, which probably explains my soft spot for the A-10s. General Schwarzkopf and Gen. Deptula were spot on in pushing for them during the Iraqi war.
During a Memorial Day ceremony a few years ago, I was sitting next to a guy wearing an Army hat who had an A-10 tattooed on his arm. When done, I asked him why. He told me an A-10 had saved his life in Afghanistan and so he felt compelled to honor the airplane in that way. He told me that when the SHTF scenario unfolds, all the grunts want is an A-10 or two to show up. When you need big bad bullets to shred something and save the day, you call an A-10. When you need ordnance dropped, there is a plethora of other capable machines. This move is SO sad to me – personally – that I feel compelled to underscore the mistake of retiring it without a replacement.
Thanks for your service, Raf.
BTW: One of the 30 rounds that came out of the test A-10 didn’t like being warmed up from -50 deg F to whatever and fractured into two pieces. So the virtual center of mass still went into the bullet catcher (a 30’ pipe) but the two pieces aeriated the hangar door never to be seen again (no injuries). 
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