The 442nd Fighter Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., is in line to replace its A-10 Warthogs with F-15E Strike Eagles in the coming years, securing the future of the reserve unit’s flying mission.
Rep. Mark Alford (R-Mo.), who represents Whiteman, announced July 29 that Air Force Reserve Command has selected the base as its “sole candidate location” to host two dozen F-15Es.
Under the Air Force’s strategic basing process, AFRC must still designate Whiteman as its preferred location, conduct an environmental impact analysis, and make a final decision. But as the sole candidate, the base is well positioned to clear those hurdles.
“This is the first in several steps,” Alford said in a press conference. “There’s a lot of planning that has to go into this, a lot of regulatory steps. But this is a first step that I’ve been waiting on for three and a half years: for the Air Force to give us a call and to email us with a detailed plan of how this is going to work out.”
That plan, Alford’s office noted in a release, includes an anticipated arrival of the first F-15Es in 2031, though it will take time to reach the full complement of 24.
The Air Force could not immediately comment on where these F-15Es will be coming from.
The 442nd has flown the A-10 since 1982, but the unit’s future has been uncertain given the Air Force’s push to divest the aging close air support aircraft. The unit’s jets are slated for retirement by the end of 2028, an Air Force Reserve Command spokesperson previously told Air & Space Forces Magazine, and until this decision, there was no guarantee the wing would be recapitalized with fighters.
Indeed, many Guard and Reserve units across the service are in a state of limbo; the Air Force plans to divest many of their jets, like the A-10 and F-16, but has yet to commit to replacing them with newer models like the F-35 and F-15EX.
Some units have lost their flying mission altogether. In 2019, the Puerto Rico Air National Guard’s 156th Airlift Wing, previously a C-130 unit, transitioned to a contingency response and communications mission. In 2023, Mansfield Lahm Air National Guard Base, Ohio, transitioned from a C-130 flying unit to the 179th Cyberspace Wing. And in 2025, the Maryland Air National Guard divested all its A-10s and converted to a cyber wing.
Lawmakers, reserve leaders, and advocates say losing these missions hurts not only the local bases but the entire Air Force by forcing out experienced pilots and maintainers. They also argue that Reserve and Guard units provide combat power at a fraction of the price of their Active-Duty counterparts.
Despite this, the Air Force has pushed hard to divest legacy aircraft in recent years, particularly the A-10, which leaders say isn’t survivable in the high-end conflict they expect to face in the future. Until recently, the service had wanted to retire the entire A-10 fleet by 2028, but in April, it reversed course and committed to keeping some until 2030.
That extension will help bridge the gap until the new F-15Es come, Alford said.
“We were starting to lose pilots and maintainers in the 442nd already,” Alford said. “ … This gives them an opportunity to stay with the program until the F-15E gets here.”
The Air Force Reserve’s other A-10 units are associates of Active-Duty units at other bases. At Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., the 924th Fighter Group deactivated in September 2025 as the entire base’s A-10 mission wound down. The last Warthogs there flew July 29. The 476th Fighter Group at Moody Air Force Base, Ga., is an associate unit linked to the 23rd Fighter Group.
