Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh III will visit Fort Smith and the Arkansas Air National Guard’s 188th Fighter Wing on Jan. 18, according to a news release from Sen. John Boozman R-Ark.
Members of the Arkansas congressional delegation invited Welsh in November to tour the 188th, which has been scheduled to lose its 20 A-10 Thunderbolt II attack jets and get a mission of piloting drones that are assigned to other bases.
Members of the delegation along with community and military leaders throughout western Arkansas have argued that the 188th is too well-trained and too valuable to dismantle and want the Air Force to retain the unit’s mission.
The delegation wanted Welsh “to get a more complete picture of the capabilities, readiness level and airspace and facilities provided at the air base when making a decision about the Air Force’s modernization efforts,” the release stated.
The congressional delegation has met with the secretary of defense and Air Force leaders over the past year with repeated requests for data justifying ending the 188th’s A-10 mission while other bases that have not deployed as often or had as high of a score on inspections are able to keep their planes.
The 2013 Defense Authorization Bill passed two weeks ago doesn’t prevent the movement of Fort Smith’s planes. But Welsh’s visit was expected to happen before the final decision is made, Air Force officials have said.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 11 on 01/05/2013