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More than 30 A-10 Warthogs assembled in one place, with every squadron in the Air Force that currently flies the airframe represented in a friendly competition to see who is the best of the best. That’s the premise of ‘Hawgsmoke,’ an event that brings together the Air Force’s community of A-10 Thunderbolt II pilots and maintainers as they unleash plenty of the aircraft’s signature “BRRRT.”

The 2022 event was hosted by the previous winners, the Idaho Air National Guard’s 124th Fighter Wing, at Gowen Field in Boise, Idaho, from Sept. 6-9. The home team, so to speak, took the crown, as the 190th Fighter Squadron – known as the “Skullbangers” – won the event. That’s a repeat victory for the 190th, who also achieved top honors at “Hawgsmoke 2021,” and the third win for the unit since the event began more than two decades ago. 

The competition tests the maintenance, weapons loading, bombing and strafing capabilities of each of the squadrons. 

This year’s top overall attack pilot was Lt. Col. John Marks, 303rd Fighter Squadron, 442d Fighter Wing, Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. The top strafe team was the 303rd Fighter Squadron, 442d Fighter Wing, Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. The top tactical team was the 47th Fighter Squadron, 442d Fighter Wing, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. And the top bombing team was the 354th Fighter Squadron, 355th Fighter Wing, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona.

Air Force photo

More than just a competition, though, the Hawgsmoke event is about getting A-10 pilots and maintainers together in one place for a week to demonstrate everything the aircraft is capable of.

“The overall competition is about tactical training,” said Col. Ryan Richardson, the 124th Operations Group commander in an Air Force press release. “Yet it’s more than that, it’s about the community of pilots and maintainers, and about showing our local community who we are and what we do.” 

The Hawgsmoke competition dates back to 1996, when then-Col. Cliff Latta, operations group commander of the 110th Fighter Wing in Battle Creek, Michigan hoped to showcase his unit to other Air National Guard members, according to Hawgsmoke.com, the event’s unofficial website. 

The name is a play on words for an older Air Force gunnery and bombing competition known as “Gunsmoke,” which was discontinued in 1995. 

In 2000, the competition really came into its own, when it started expanding to include participants from every A-10 squadron in the Air Force. 

Air Force photo

“Hawgsmoke was established to allow current Hawg Pilots an opportunity to show their stuff.  The goal was to have a low key fighter pilot weekend with the comrades…that just happened to have a competition attached,” said Latta.

Now, for as long as the A-10 is flying, pilots gather every couple of years to test the “combat capabilities of hawg drivers in bombing, missile, and tactical gunnery tactics, techniques, and procedures,” reads an Air Force press release for the competition.

That means plenty of “BRRRT.”

It’s also a chance for pilots and maintainers to get together to celebrate and remember. The 2000 Hawgsmoke opened with a ceremony for fallen comrades, a flyover by a missing-man formation, and the participants downing a shot of whiskey and smashing the glasses. This year’s event featured a flyover by a P-40 and P-47, aircraft that performed similar roles to what the A-10 does today. 

So, if the A-10 is going to keep flying, bring on more Hawgsmoke. 

Thirty-seven A-10 Thunderbolt II’s sit on the flightline at Gowen Field, Boise, Idaho, to compete in Hawgsmoke 2022, Sept 8, 2022. Hawgsmoke is a biennial USAF bombing, missile, and tactical gunnery competition for A-10 Thunderbolt II units which provides unique training. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Mercedee Wilds)
Thirty-seven A-10 Thunderbolt II’s sit on the flightline at Gowen Field, Boise, Idaho, to compete in Hawgsmoke 2022, Sept 8, 2022. Hawgsmoke is a biennial USAF bombing, missile, and tactical gunnery competition for A-10 Thunderbolt II units which provides unique training. (Staff Sgt. Mercedee Wilds/U.S. Air National Guard)
A-10 Thunderbolt II pilots compete in Hawgsmoke 2022 at Saylor Creek in Idaho, Sept 8, 2022. Hawgsmoke is a biennial USAF bombing, missile, and tactical gunnery competition for A-10 Thunderbolt II units which provides unique training. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Mercedee Wilds)
A-10 Thunderbolt II pilots compete in Hawgsmoke 2022 at Saylor Creek in Idaho, Sept 8, 2022. Hawgsmoke is a biennial USAF bombing, missile, and tactical gunnery competition for A-10 Thunderbolt II units which provides unique training. (Staff Sgt. Mercedee Wilds/U.S. Air National Guard)
The 124th Fighter Wing hosts Hawgsmoke 2022 at Gowen Field, Boise, ID, Sept. 8, 2022. The 190th Fighter Squadron, having won this aerial warfighter skills competition three times since it’s inception in 2000, is back on their home turf defending the title. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Joseph R. Morgan)
The 124th Fighter Wing hosts Hawgsmoke 2022 at Gowen Field, Boise, ID, Sept. 8, 2022. The 190th Fighter Squadron, having won this aerial warfighter skills competition three times since it’s inception in 2000, is back on their home turf defending the title. (Staff Sergeant Joseph R. Morgan/U.S. Air Force)
The 124th Fighter Wing hosts Hawgsmoke 2022 at Gowen Field, Boise, ID, Sept. 8, 2022. The 190th Fighter Squadron, having won this aerial warfighter skills competition three times since it’s inception in 2000, is back on their home turf defending the title. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Joseph R. Morgan)
The 124th Fighter Wing hosts Hawgsmoke 2022 at Gowen Field, Boise, ID, Sept. 8, 2022. The 190th Fighter Squadron, having won this aerial warfighter skills competition three times since it’s inception in 2000, is back on their home turf defending the title. (Staff Sergeant Joseph R. Morgan/U.S. Air Force)
An A-10 Thunderbolt II, from the Idaho National Guard’s 124th Fighter Wing, Boise, Idaho, performs a strafing run during the Hawgsmoke 2022 gunnery competition at the Saylor Creek Bombing Range, south of Mountain Home, Idaho, Sept. 8, 2022. The competition traces its heritage back to 1949 and the Gunsmoke gunnery competition. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sgt. Joshua C. Allmaras)
An A-10 Thunderbolt II, from the Idaho National Guard’s 124th Fighter Wing, Boise, Idaho, performs a strafing run during the Hawgsmoke 2022 gunnery competition at the Saylor Creek Bombing Range, south of Mountain Home, Idaho, Sept. 8, 2022. The competition traces its heritage back to 1949 and the Gunsmoke gunnery competition. (Senior Master Sgt. Joshua C. Allmaras/U.S. Air National Guard)
An A-10 Thunderbolt II, from the Idaho National Guard’s 124th Fighter Wing, Boise, Idaho, drops a MK-82 500-lb bomb during the Hawgsmoke 2022 gunnery competition at the Saylor Creek Bombing Range, south of Mountain Home, Idaho, Sept. 8, 2022. The competition traces its heritage back to 1949 and the Gunsmoke gunnery competition. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sgt. Joshua C. Allmaras)
An A-10 Thunderbolt II, from the Idaho National Guard’s 124th Fighter Wing, Boise, Idaho, drops a MK-82 500-lb bomb during the Hawgsmoke 2022 gunnery competition at the Saylor Creek Bombing Range, south of Mountain Home, Idaho, Sept. 8, 2022. The competition traces its heritage back to 1949 and the Gunsmoke gunnery competition. (Senior Master Sgt. Joshua C. Allmaras/U.S. Air National Guard)
The Idaho Air National Guard’s 124th Fighter Wing hosted the biennial A-10 Thunderbolt II competition, Hawgsmoke, Sept. 6-9, 2022. On Sept. 8, nearly 30 A-10s from across the nation took off from Gowen Field's flight line for the competition that took place at Idaho's Saylor Creek Range. At the previous competition, Hawgsmoke 2021, the 124th Fighter Wing’s 190th Fighter Squadron was recognized as the top pilot team at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. The winning team traditionally hosts the next competition. The 190th Fighter Squadron won all three team awards in 2021: overall champion, top bombing team and top tactical team. The 190th was announced winners of the 2022 Hawgsmoke on Sept. 9, making this overall win the squadron’s fourth since 2003. More than 150 pilots, maintainers and weapon teams from approximately 14 active duty, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve units from across the globe are in the competition. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Becky Vanshur)
More than 150 pilots, maintainers and weapon teams from approximately 14 active duty, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve units from across the globe took part in the competition. (Master Sgt. Becky Vanshur/U.S. Air National Guard)
The 124th Fighter Wing hosts Hawgsmoke 2022 at Gowen Field, Boise, ID, Sept. 8, 2022. The 190th Fighter Squadron, having won this aerial warfighter skills competition three times since it’s inception in 2000, is back on their home turf defending the title. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Joseph R. Morgan)
The 124th Fighter Wing hosts Hawgsmoke 2022 at Gowen Field, Boise, ID, Sept. 8, 2022. The 190th Fighter Squadron, having won this aerial warfighter skills competition three times since it’s inception in 2000, is back on their home turf defending the title. (Staff Sergeant Joseph R. Morgan/U.S. Air Force)

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Max Hauptman
Max Hauptman

Max Hauptman is a former breaking news reporter at Task & Purpose. He previously worked at The Washington Post as a Military Veterans in Journalism Fellow, as well as covering local news in New England. Contact the author here.

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