T
he first of a planned 50 A-10C Thunderbolt II attack aircraft destined for Moody AFB, Ga., flew into its new home Aug. 7. The Ogden Air Logistics Center at Hill AFB, Utah, has been leading the modernization of the service’s Warthog fleet. Moody has gained an A-10 unit—the 23rd Fighter Group—from Pope AFB, N.C. and is picking up additional aircraft from Alaska, all courtesy of BRAC 2005. Moody expects to have all 50 upgraded Hogs by spring 2008.
Retired Col. Carlyle "Smitty" Harris, known for introducing the "tap code" by which American POWs in North Vietnam could surreptitiously communicate with one another, died July 6. Harris was brutalized by the North Vietnamese over almost eight years of captivity.