Sortie changes green pilot blue

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Russell Wicke
  • 455th Expeditionary Operations Group Public Affairs
An A-10 Thunderbolt II pilot deployed here with the 81st Expeditionary Fighter Squadron was required to fire at an enemy target on his first combat sortie Aug. 11.

First Lt. Erik Axt deployed here Aug. 9 from Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, less than two months after becoming combat-ready, said Lt. Col. Pat Malackowski, 81st EFS commander.

“He is our newest A-10 pilot,” said Malackowski. “On his first opportunity in combat he was asked to do the most difficult thing for a new pilot -- engage the enemy without hurting the friendlies close by.”

Axt’s engagement was successful, hitting only the intended target, Malackowski said.

“Before we flew that sortie, we were briefed that we might have to employ because our ground forces were reporting hostile enemy activity,” Axt said. “But I was confident because I had a good flight lead.”

As Axt’s flight lead and instructor, Malackowski said he confirmed the enemy target and gave Axt the first opportunity to engage the enemy with the A-10’s primary weapon -- the 30 mm seven-barrel Gatling gun.

“Colonel Malackowski has a gift of instilling confidence in his wingmen,” Axt said. “He is a very calm and experienced instructor pilot.”

However, Malackowski gives the credit to his young fighter pilot.

“Lieutenant Axt displayed a fantastic performance,” he said. “It was a really solid mission.”

Despite their disagreement about who contributed most to the mission, both pilot and instructor pilot agree on what made it successful.

“We’re very lucky in the A-10 community,” Malackowski said. “We’re allowed to have a very dedicated and focused training plan -- clearly focused on close-air support for the ground forces.”

But it is not just the community of people that contribute to success.

“The A-10 is such a simple aircraft … designed around this amazing gun. Virtually everything the airplane does is manual, so mission success depends on the skill of the pilot more than other newer fighter aircraft,” Malackowski said.

“I love the A-10,” Axt said. “The mission of the A-10 is one of the things that makes it so appealing to me. There is nothing more rewarding for me than to provide support for the Army.”

Axt explained the A-10’s primary mission was ground support for troops rather than air-to-air engagement like most fighter aircraft. He said his training in this aircraft was exactly like the real-world mission.

“Afterward, I realized how much this combat sortie mirrored the training I received. We train like we fight,” Axt said.