by Tech. Sgt. John Orrell, National Guard Bureau
BOISE, Idaho (AFNS) -- Hawgsmoke 2010, the biennial A-10 Thunderbolt II bombing, missile and tactical gunnery competition, has begun. This year's event, which takes place from Oct. 13 to 16, is being hosted by the Idaho Air National Guard's 190th Fighter Squadron, the 2008 competition's winning unit. The competition stages out of Gowen Air National Guard Base in Boise.
The competition is a chance for active duty, Guard and Reserve A-10 pilots and maintenance personnel to get together and share their experiences, said Col. James R. Compton, the commander of the Idaho Air National Guard's 124th Fighter Wing, the parent unit for the 190th FS.
"It's a great honor to host this competition," Colonel Compton said. "These are some of the finest warriors in the A-10 business."
"If you don't put them all together at one time in a venue like this, then you don't get any validation that (the combination) works," he said. "We are a very diverse organization and to put it all together here, we come to find out that we're not as different as we thought. It validates that we are all one team heading for one common goal."
Competition is also good for them, Colonel Compton said, because it builds camaraderie throughout the A-10 community.
"(Camaraderie) is very important to this type of a competition," he said. "(It) is really the glue that keeps us together."
Keeping the planes running during the competition are the maintenance crews from the competing wings.
"Much like the pilots, they are going to share (maintaining) different airplanes," Colonel Compton said. "That validates that we have one standard for the way we generate airplanes, and we get to watch them ... all working together as a team."
Senior Master Sgt. Ron Manker, the maintenance superintendent for Hawgsmoke, said the extra hands from the participating units are very helpful, since repairs had to be made for some teams to compete.
He added that most of them also have deployed or trained together in the past.
Colonel Compton said wing officials have been planning for this event for the last two years.
"The best thing about having this competition in Boise is we are going to see some of the premier bombing ranges," he said. "The pilots are going to be really impressed with the tactical scenarios we provided for them."