Overview
- The final A-10 assigned to Nellis Air Force Base left on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026, and nearly 70 Airmen saluted the aircraft as it took off.
- Nellis had been a primary A-10 hub since 1977 and the 66th Weapons Squadron trained more than 300 A-10 weapons officers across 100 classes.
- The Air Force is shifting close air support doctrine, pilots and tactics into multirole fighters such as the F-35, F-15 and F-16 as the A-10 enterprise winds down.
- Maintenance personnel from Nellis’s 757th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron are being reassigned to F-35 and F-16 units after depot and training pipelines for the A-10 were reduced.
- Lawmakers are pushing the BRRRRT Act to require keeping at least 126 A-10s and restoring sustainment and training capacity through fiscal 2033, which could alter final basing and retirement plans.