Signing keeps A-10s in Fort Wayne

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - With Wednesday's signing of the National Defense Authorization Act by President Obama, Fort Wayne will continue to have fighters at its Air National Guard base, the 122nd Fighter Wing announced Thursday.

"The signing... allows the 122nd Fighter Wing to keep and continue flying the A-10C Thunderbolt II in Fort Wayne well into the future," a base official proclaimed in a celebratory news release.

Since February, local, state, and congressional officials had been fighting a proposal to convert the 122nd from an A-10C into an MC-12 unit. The MC-12 is used for providing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

Retiring the fighter jets at the 122nd would have eliminated 150 jobs. The bill signed into law this week will preserve those jets and jobs through September. After that, nothing is certain.

Local leaders, however, sounded optimistic about the base's future.

“The 122nd Fighter Wing is the right solution for America in some very challenging times,” said Col. David L. Augustine, 122nd Fighter Wing Commander.  “Now that this impasse is behind us we’ll focus on working with Air Combat Command on becoming an Active Association bringing almost 50 active duty Air Force Airmen to Fort Wayne while focusing on being selected as the next Air National Guard Joint Strike Fighter (F-35) base.”

During their fight, local and state officials regularly cited the cost effectiveness of keeping the fighter jets in Fort Wayne. On average, they said it saves the government 72 cents on the dollar to house the jets in Fort Wayne compared to an active duty Air Force base.