Warthog and the Close Air Support Debate, The

Flight Journal, Apr 2004

The Warthog and the Close Air Support Debate by Douglas N. Campbell; Naval Institute Press, 291 Wood Rd., Annapolis, MD 21402; 302 pages; illustrated; $34.95.

There has always been a certain gray area between the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force about the Close Air Support (CAS) mission. Although the Air Force doesn't seem to want to be involved in missions that involve direct support of troops that are engaging the enemy on the ground, the A-10 exists precisely because of that particular responsibility. How and why that came about is fully explained in Douglas N. Campbell's fascinating "The Warthog and the Close Air Support Debate."

At the center of the controversy is the Fairchild A-10 Warthog; nobody calls it by its official name: Thunderbolt II. It's slow, decidedly low-tech and by all accounts ugly. As it was designed specifically for CAS, it runs counter to contemporary thinking about multi-role aircraft. However, the A-10 is historically one of the most lethally effective and feared aircraft in the inventory.

Campbell, a former A-10 driver, knows the story well and could easily have manipulated his views on the Warthog and its mission. To his credit, and the reader's benefit, Campbell's approach is evenhanded. This well-written book lays out the CAS controversy from the beginning of this largely neglected period of air-combat history to the present. As this book thoroughly documents, the A-10 is not perfect, but it's still the best allaround tactical jet ever built.

Will all A-10s eventually be consigned to the boneyard in favor of F-16s? Stay tuned. This excellent book is a starting point for all intelligent discussion on the subject, and rightly so. It's brilliant.