For A-6 Intruder Lovers.....

[Flash]

ANG units flew A-7s for a long time, along with A-37s and RF-4s before later getting A-10s and F-16s (not to mention Syracuse's failed "A-16" debacle). A big part of it was the idea that we'd have to throw a lot of attack meat into the Fulda Gap grinder to delay the Soviet armor advance and allow our follow on forces to make it to our bases in the UK.

Until the early 90's, none deployed to the Gulf War though because Lt Gen Horner didn't want them there. Apparently he was a bit surprised and peeved that two carriers still had them (at least one or two had just started preparing for their transition to Hornets right before being recalled to deploy).

'Fun' obscure fact, the largest single loss of US aircraft to an 'enemy' after Vietnam was of Puerto Rican ANG A-7's by a Puerto Rican terrorist group that destroyed 8 and damaged 2 of them along with an F-104 gate guard for good measure.

 

[SteveG75]

ANG units flew A-7s for a long time, along with A-37s and RF-4s before later getting A-10s and F-16s (not to mention Syracuse's failed "A-16" debacle). A big part of it was the idea that we'd have to throw a lot of attack meat into the Fulda Gap grinder to delay the Soviet armor advance and allow our follow on forces to make it to our bases in the UK.

The expected losses were insanely high. That's an OPlan that thankfully never had to be put into action.

OK, a bit off topic but this reminds me of a discussion at War College. I was taking a class on the US Army as an elective. Professor was telling us how the US Army considered ROTC, recruiting, and SELRES good jobs and sent their high performers there after first tour. The reason was that those officers were considered the backup for losses in the Fulda Gap, were known high performers, and the jobs could survive them being gone.

 

[Swanee]

OK, a bit off topic but this reminds me of a discussion at War College. I was taking a class on the US Army as an elective. Professor was telling us how the US Army considered ROTC, recruiting, and SELRES good jobs and sent their high performers there after first tour. The reason was that those officers were considered the backup for losses in the Fulda Gap, were known high performers, and the jobs could survive them being gone.

It was a different time, for sure. We didn't think that we'd roll over Iraq in 1991 so we had plans for most of the ANG fighter squadrons to start to rotate in at the 30-45 day mark. Iraq was just off of the almost decade long peer level Iran-Iraq war and had a ton of experience.

As it turns out, the money for equipment and training that we had for the Cold War combined with all of our desert warfare training and those Fighter Weapons School types really did us some good.

Maybe the Iran thing would have gone better if we had that level of investment over the last 10 years.

 

[ea6bflyr]

It was a different time, for sure. We didn't think that we'd roll over Iraq in 1991 so we had plans for most of the ANG fighter squadrons to start to rotate in at the 30-45 day mark. Iraq was just off of the almost decade long peer level Iran-Iraq war and had a ton of experience.

As it turns out, the money for equipment and training that we had for the Cold War combined with all of our desert warfare training and those Fighter Weapons School types really did us some good.

Maybe the Iran thing would have gone better if we had that level of investment over the last 10 years.

..or, hear me out, there was an actual plan.

 

[Swanee]

..or, hear me out, there was an actual plan.

Yeah. That too!