The 357th Fighter Squadron graduated its last A-10C Thunderbolt II student pilots at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, marking the end of an era for the sole formal training unit for A-10 pilots.
The U.S. Air Force has now ended the training of new A-10C Thunderbolt II pilots, in another step towards the retirement of the aircraft. In fact, on Apr. 3, 2026, the 357th Fighter Squadron graduated the last class of A-10 student pilots at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona.
The students completed their mission qualification training in mid-March, according to images released by the service on the DVIDS network on Mar. 20. The photos described that a close air support exercise was the culminating event of the course.
Among the guest speakers for the graduation was Retired U.S. Air Force Col. Kim “KC” Campbell, a well-known recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross for saving her crippled A-10 after taking heavy anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) damage during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. She is known as one of the few A-10 pilots who successfully landed the A-10 by using the Manual Reversion Flight Control System (MRFCS), the emergency mode which uses old-school cables and pulleys to fly the jet after losing hydraulics.
The service, in the captions of the graduation’s photos, says the ceremony marks a historic moment and the end of an era for A-10 training. These new pilots will now move to their assigned units to continue their certification training.
While the training of new pilots has now ended with this final class, the A-10 is still expected to fly for some more years. In fact, the Warthog (as the aircraft is nicknamed within the fighter pilot community) is still in heavy use and had a prominent role in the operations over Iran.
The importance of the platform is also demonstrated by the recent testing of a new Probe Refueling Adapter, developed in response to an urgent combatant command requirement, which now allows the A-10 to refuel through probe and drogue aerial refueling tankers. Notably, in December 2025, the Air Force inactivated the 40th Flight Test Squadron’s Detachment 1 which was in charge of A-10 testing, thus the new probe was tested by the Air National Guard Air Force Reserve Command Test Center (AATC).
357th Fighter Squadron
The 357th Fighter Squadron, also known as the ‘Dragons’, is the sole formal training unit for A-10 pilots in the Air Force. Its role is to train pilots in battlefield surveillance and reconnaissance, as well as how to plan, coordinate, execute and control day and night close air support, says the service.
The course, which lasts six months, graduates approximately 70 total-force pilots annually, as Air National Guard pilots are also trained there together with active-duty pilots. Students go through around 40 flights, accompanied by flight simulator sorties and academic lessons, before qualifying as combat-ready pilots and continue to their assigned units.
The course begins with the basics on how to fly the A-10C, followed by an air-to-air phase to teach students how to fight and defend themselves from an adversary aircraft. This is followed by surface attacks, beginning with the basics such as unguided munitions and the GAU-8 30 mm gun before moving to more advanced weapons and tactics in more complex close air support scenarios.
In addition to new A-10 pilots, the squadron also trains new instructor pilots and re-qualify A-10 pilots that have spent time in non-flying positions.
The A-10’s Divestment
The A-10’s divestment has been controversial as the Air Force has been trying to get rid of it for years, with the Congress intervening to avoid losing a critical CAS capability. The controversy stems from the A-10 not considered survivable in modern contested environments with Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) networks, while it still remains highly capable in permissive scenarios.
The retirement date has been subject to multiple variations throughout the years, with the service aiming to retire all the 162 A-10s still in inventory in FY2026, rather than gradually phase them out until 2029 as initially planned. However, the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act rejects the Air Force’s plan and only allows the retirement of 59 A-10s.
The downside of the Congress’ A-10 rescue is that the service did not include funding for sustainment of the fleet in the FY2026 budget. The Air Force estimated that this would have required $423 million, which it planned to divert to other programs with the Warthog’s retirement.
Meanwhile, the A-10s is still a prominent platform in the inventory of the U.S. Air Force, and is on the frontlines of the operations over Iran. These also saw the Warthog, thanks to its versatility, employed against One Way Attack (OWA) drones and to hunt down Iranian fast attack watercraft in the Strait of Hormuz.
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