FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — Cannon Range on Fort Leonard Wood was packed with 1,500 spectators Aug. 4 to watch pilots fly A-10 Thunderbolts overhead while displaying the precision required for hitting targets spread across the range in simulated air-to-ground combat.
The A-10 Thunderbolt II is a twin-engine jet aircraft, commonly known as the Warthog. It is primarily used against light maritime attack aircraft and all ground targets, including tanks and other armored vehicles.
“There were eight A-10 pilots from the 303rd Fighter Squadron, Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, who demonstrated training tactics. There were an additional two pilots from the same unit on the ground to help control missions and emcee for the event,” said Air Force Master Sgt. Thomas Davis, NCO in charge of Cannon Range, which is operated by the 442nd Operations Support Squadron.
The 303rd Fighter Squadron is part of the 442nd Fighter Wing, an Air Force Reserve unit based at Whiteman, which is located near Knob Noster, Missouri.
According to Davis, outreach events are important because they help the communities around the range learn what we do here.
“Our range is surrounded by private residences and farms. Lots of people say they see the planes all the time, but just don’t know where they are going or what they are doing. This allows the opportunity to experience it for themselves,” Davis said.
The 4,800-acre range includes 40 target arrays with more than 700 distinct objects, 14 of which can be used to score a pilot's precision with camera towers and an advanced computer system — cameras and computers allow scorekeepers to chart the accuracy of the munitions.
Spectators at the event had the opportunity to see the A-10’s 30 mm, seven-barrel Gatling-style gun in action, along with inert 500-pound free-falling practice bombs that sent a dirt plume into the air where they hit.
With more than 7,500 hours flying Warthogs, Air Force Lt. Col. John Karl Marks, chief of Standardization and Evaluation for the 303rd Fighter Squadron, knows the training and precision needed to hit those targets while zooming over the range.
“I am currently the highest-time A-10 pilot. It's the only aircraft that was designed from the beginning as a close-air support aircraft, and in my opinion, is still the best at that very important, challenging and rewarding mission,” Marks said.
During the event, Marks was on the ground, serving as the range-control officer for four of the planes’ maneuvers over the range.
“I've been an additional-duty RCO for about three years. The RCO is the ultimate authority on the range for the release of ordnance by aircraft and ensures the safety of ground personnel during range operations by clearing each hot pass by aircraft on range,” Marks said.
This event was extra special to Marks because he is set to retire soon.
“I have flown in past open house events but had never experienced one from the ground perspective or as RCO, and this was my last chance to do that,” Marks said.
During one part of the demonstration, while the jets crisscrossed overhead, Airmen on the ground were firing simulated surface-to-air missiles into the air, which Davis said are lightweight Styrofoam rockets.
“The Smokey SAM we use on the range take off and leave a smoke trail behind. This simulates the launch of a surface-to-air missile and gives pilots a visible threat that they can respond to and initiate avoidance tactics,” Davis explained.
Watching the A-10s simulate air-to-ground combat is why Air Force Staff Sgt. Joseph Miller, with the 442nd Civil Engineering Squadron, made the 130-mile trip from Whiteman to Cannon Range.
“I’m not part of a flight crew. I do base maintenance,” Miller said. “I love seeing the A-10s do their thing and witness what our civil engineering mission is supporting. My favorite part was when they flew low to the ground during the show-of-force formation.”
The facility originally opened in 1944, as an artillery range. In 1978, it re-opened as a facility for bombing training and was named Cannon Air to Ground Bombing Range posthumously for Air Force Col. William Wallace Cannon, who died in 1977, after he retired as the 131st Fighter Wing commander.
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