The Idaho Air National Guard’s 190th Fighter Squadron has taken top prize in “Hawgsmoke 2010,” the Air Force’s biennial A-10 competition, repeating its winning performance from 2008. The Idaho Statesman reports that the Idaho unit bested 17 other USAF A-10 teams that flew in from across the globe to Gowen ANG Base in Boise to compete in the bombing, missile, and tactical gunnery activities at the Mountain Home Range complex on Oct. 14. Overall, more than 40 A-10s participated, and more than 200 pilots and maintenance personnel. The Idaho Air Guardsmen got to host this year’s event since they won Hawgsmoke 2008 in Salinas, Kans. Unlike in 2008, fleet-wide maintenance issues did not hamper the ability of some A-10 units to participate. (See also Boise report by TSgt. John Orrell)
Army Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli, head of U.S. European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe, warned that Russia would remain an enduring threat to NATO and global security, regardless of the outcome of the war in Ukraine.