U.S. Senator John McCain, Chair of the Senate Armed Forces Committee held a “TREASON” baseball cap during the press conference today regarding the Air Force’s plan to mothball the A-10. Senators Kelly Ayotte, Lindsey Graham, Joni Ernst, and Johnny Isakson were joined by former A-10 pilot Tom Norris and former Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs) Charlie Keebaugh, and Master Sergeant (retired) Tim Stamey.
McCain showed reporters the cap as a show of solidarity with Air Force personnel who were warned by General James Post that support for the A-10 could amount to treason.
“The evidence is clear: this close air-support weapon is by far the most effective that has ever been invented. … We will be working with the House Armed Services Committee and under Senator Ayotte’s leadership to preserve the A-10 as a most important part of our ability to defend our men and women who are serving in the military in a world that Senator Graham has described as ‘on fire,'” said McCain.
In January, Ayotte and McCain called on Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James to investigate the reported comments, McCain spokesman Dustin Walker told Air Force Times.
The Air Force Inspector General’s investigation into the matter determined that the remarks by Post, ACC Vice Commander, to a group of Airmen had a “chilling effect on some of the attendees and caused them to feel constrained from communicating with members of Congress.”
Post’s statements were first reported on the popular Air Force blog, John Q. Public, published by retired USAF pilot Tony Carr. In response to Carr’s post about Post’s comments at Nellis Air Force Base Tactics Review Board meeting, an Air Combat Command spokesperson told the ADI that the “general’s use of hyperbole in his comments during a recent discussion with attendees at a Tactics Review Board at Nellis were intended to communicate a serious point: the Air Force decision on recommended actions/strategic choices for the constrained fiscal environment has been made and the service’s position communicated.”
According to a pre-decisional/internal USAF working paper, A-10 Fleet Alternative Re-phase, Divest by FY21, some senators are being asked to take a USAF F-16 payoff at the expense of the ground troops and their families within the senators’ states.
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