Wriiten by: Bob Ulin | Center for Transitional Leadership
Next time you start whining about how bad you had it in the office consider the pilot who flew this A-10 in combat.
Some have called the A-10, a flying tank. In fact, it was developed to kill tanks.
While some in the Air Force want to scrap the A-10, preciously because is flies low and slow, we ground pounders love this aircraft because it flies low and slow and has devastating firepower.
Those who defend our nation have many bad days. You need skill, determination, pure grit and luck to take hits like this and come home safely.
My war was Vietnam. I was an Army captain at the time. I frequently had to call for help from my pilot friends from the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps. I preferred to call for help from the slow movers who loitered over the battlefield flying so low and slow you could see the pilots in their cockpits.
Because of where I was located in the Mekong Delta on my second tour of duty, support normally came from Army pilots flying the ubiquitous Huey Helicopter. One day, I got caught on the ground in a classic “L” shaped ambush and was pinned down. We were out of artillery range so I called for close air support from anybody who was listening. Leatherneck-6, responded to my call—Marine pilots flying an OV-10 Bronco. I was only about 40 feet from the bad guys that day lying in smelly water behind a rice paddy dike. I popped smoke to identify my position and that of the enemy. The pilot rolled in and launched 5-inch supersonic Zuni rockets with incredible precision that blew away the bad guys and saved the day. It was a hot humid day in 1971 and It turned out to be the day that Marine aviators saved my life—Semper Fi.
I’ve never had a bad day since that time that turned out so well. Probably never will.