Moody A-10s escape to Tyndall from devastating Hurricane Matthew

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Solomon Cook
  • 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

Twenty-eight A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft evacuated to Tyndall Air Force Base Oct. 6 when they were ordered to leave their home base because of Hurricane Matthew.

The aircraft are from Moody Air Force Base, Ga.

“The aircraft are evacuating their home station in preparation of the threat of Hurricane Matthew,” said Lt. Col. Ben Hollo, 325th Operations Group deputy commander. “Doing this, you need an airfield that is open, a place to park the aircraft and a place to batten down all the crew. This is something Tyndall has. Our airfield is always open to any military traffic.”

As Tyndall AFB anticipated the influx of aircraft, leadership from the 325th Operations Group spoke of readiness and the importance of assisting military assets.

“There are combat assets across the United States, and we must protect that combat capability from any threat, in this case, from severe weather,” Hollo said. “We must be able to respond rapidly, particularly with a system like a hurricane that can change direction and path quickly and unexpectedly. In instances like that you may not have much advanced notice, and Tyndall needs to always be ready to host.”

The need for combat readiness and protecting assets was restated by officials from Moody.

“The 23rd Fighter Group, consisting of the 74th, 75th, 76th Fighter Squadrons out of Moody AFB, conducted a [hurricane evacuation of aircraft] Oct. 6, in lieu of Hurricane Matthew,” said Lt. Col. Brian France, commander of the 74th Fighter Squadron, one of the units from Moody that evacuated. “We moved the A-10s out here to Tyndall AFB in order to stay away from the danger of the storm. It is absolutely essential we protect our combat assets, both our Airmen and our iron. That’s what we are doing out here today – moving our iron off the ramp. The iron that is still there at Moody is being put into shelter in hangars. Otherwise we are bringing as much to Tyndall as we can to protect it and keep it ready for combat.”

It’s not the first time the A-10 “Warthog” has been on Tyndall’s flightline, but it is not often that so many of them are here together. But that’s why partnerships within the Air Force and the armed services are so important, France said.

“Being able to bring our iron to Tyndall from Moody really shows that we can depend on each other in the Air Force and our armed services at large at all times,” France said. “So from a joint perspective, right to the service perspective, this is demonstrative of the fact that we have family here at Tyndall ready to receive aircraft and help us out. It has been nothing but smooth operation and coordination in order to get us here. As you look around and see all the A-10s that we brought out here today that is a visual representation of what Air Force serves to do for one another across different organization and geographical boundaries to help each other out.”

Hollo went further to say that Tyndall would be ready to support Moody or other military assets, regardless of size. “In regards to the number of assets, when a base is evacuating all of their aircraft for an impending storm, there is obviously is going to have a bigger footprint,” Hollo said. “In that sense, our airfield is always available, and we will always help any military asset if they need to go someplace to get away from severe weather.”

Specifically designed for close air support, the A-10C’s combination of large and varied ordnance load, long loiter time, accurate weapons delivery, austere field capability, and survivability has proven invaluable to the United States and its allies through the years.

The 23d Wing's mission is to organize train and equip Flying Tigers to rapidly deploy and execute the Global Precision Attack, Personnel Recovery, and Agile Combat Support service core functions to meet worldwide combatant commander requirements. The 23d Wing organizes, trains and employs combat-ready A-10C, HC-130P, HH-60G and Guardian Angel Weapons Systems.