A plan by Air Force officials would remove the A-10 aircraft mission from the 188th Fighter Wing in Fort Smith next year and possibly replace it with one involving remotely piloted aircraft.
The proposal released by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz on Friday would give the 188th Fighter Wing an MQ-1/9 Remote Split Operations Squadron that would be made up of unmanned aerial vehicles commonly referred to as drones.
The MQ-1 and MQ-9 wouldn't be assigned to the base, only a ground control operation station from which the unmanned aircraft are operated.
Brig. Gen. Dwight Balch, commander of the Arkansas Air National Guard, was optimistic about the prospect of a new mission for the 188th, but he said the proposal is just the beginning of the process. The Pentagon hasn't said what impact a conversion would have on the unit's workforce.
The 188th currently has about 1,000 airmen, a full-time staff of approximately 350 and 21 A-10 planes.
"This is a good opportunity for the airmen to get in on the action," Balch said, calling it "the mission of the future."
Retired Col. Kevin Wear, former 188th commander and chairman of the 188th Fighter Wing Community Steering Committee, said it's hard to evaluate a new mission without more specifics.
"Sometimes the devil is in the details. But the majority of predator (drone) missions don't come with the type of manning associated with a fighter wing," Wear told the Southwest Times Record.
There are almost 500 personnel in the 188th's maintenance group and the drones typically don't carry any type of maintenance group that is comparable to that, he said.
The Air Force announced in October that bases in Arizona, Hawaii and South Carolina were candidates for an MQ-1/9 RSO squadron, noting that it would include 280 personnel.
Besides the 188th, the Air Force is recommending removing A-10 missions from the 122nd Fighter Wing at Fort Wayne, Ind., 107th Fighter Squadron at the Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township, Mich., 917th Fighter Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and an unidentified overseas location.
Members of Arkansas' congressional delegation said they were concerned about how military officials reached their decision on the 188th and vowed to fight for the unit.
"While this proposal leaves a lot of unanswered questions, there is one thing I do know: the Arkansas congressional delegation will fight to secure an enduring role for Arkansas's Air Guard as a key part of the Air Force's future structure and capabilities," Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., said in a statement.
"We are writing to leaders of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees asking for immediate hearings on these decisions and asking the secretary of the Air Force for greater transparency regarding the methods used to make these determinations."
In May 2005, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, or BRAC, stripped the 188th Fighter Wing of its F-16s mission but replace the planes with the A-10.
Balch said if Congress adopts the proposed 2013 fiscal year Air Force budget, he expects the conversion from A-10s to the unmanned aircraft to begin in mid-2013.
