Miller on FY15 Defense Authorization that Preserves A-10 Fleet at Selfridge

WASHINGTON D.C.  – Today, Rep. Candice Miller (MI-10) issued the following statement ahead of tomorrow’s House vote on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2015 that includes a provision to preserve A-10 aircraft utilized by the National Guard, including the fleet stationed at Selfridge Air National Guard Base:

“I am very pleased that the National Defense Authorization Act, which the House will consider tomorrow, protects the A-10 mission flown by the 127th wing at Selfridge Air National Guard Base for the coming year. I am disappointed, however, that the final bill agreed upon by the House and Senate negotiators allows up to 36 active duty A-10s to be placed into backup status, which is a much weaker protection than what passed the House and the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this year.   

“The message sent by a bipartisan group of 300 Members of the House who voted in favor of my amendment to protect the A-10 mission was clear, and the Air Force must recognize that, unless and until a follow on mission is identified that can perform the mission of supporting our troops on the ground as well as the A-10, their efforts to retire this outstanding weapons system will be resisted in Congress.

“No airplane in the inventory performs as well in ground attack and close air support missions.  That point was made clear when the first unit deployed to the newly reactivated 332nd Air Expeditionary Group leading the ground attack mission against ISIL in Iraq, was an A-10 unit from the Indiana National Guard.”

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