The U.S. Air Force concluded A-10 Thunderbolt II depot-level maintenance at Ogden Air Logistics Complex with a “Hawg Out” ceremony Feb. 12 at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, service officials announced Wednesday.
The final Warthog to complete depot work at the facility, tail number 78-0655, is scheduled to depart Hill by the end of February, prompting the deactivation of the 571st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, according to an Air Force Life Cycle Management Center release.
Ogden ALC has served as the primary depot for A-10 structural repairs, wing replacements and major overhauls since 1998. At its peak, the 571st AMXS employed hundreds of maintainers who performed corrosion prevention, rewinging and other heavy maintenance to keep the close air support platform operational during deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, and, most recently, Operation Inherent Resolve and regional deterrence in the Middle East.
The squadron’s expertise will now shift to sustainment missions on the F-35A Lightning II, F-16 Fighting Falcon and C-130 Hercules, the release noted.
Brig. Gen. G. Hall Sebren Jr., Ogden ALC commander, highlighted the workforce’s legacy during the ceremony.
“The A‑10 came to Hill because of the skill and dedication of our workforce, and it stayed here because that expertise only grew stronger with time,” Sebren said, according to the release. “Our maintainers extended the life of this aircraft again and again, and they did it with a level of pride and professionalism that has become part of Hill’s identity.”
The closure aligns with the broader Air Force phaseout of the A-10. The service has retired dozens of Warthogs in recent years to fund modernization priorities, including the F-35A and next-generation air dominance systems. Congressional protections in recent defense authorization acts have slowed full divestment, but the fleet continues to shrink as operational roles shift toward stealthier, more networked platforms.
Col. Ryan Nash, commander of the 309th Aircraft Maintenance Group, emphasized the generational knowledge transfer that defined the program.
“We have had maintainers who have worked on the A‑10 for decades,” Nash said, according to the release. “They know every inch of this aircraft. They’ve trained generations of maintainers, and they’ve poured their hearts into keeping the Warthog in the fight. Watching the last jet roll out is emotional for all of us.”
For the maintainers who spent careers under the A-10’s distinctive titanium bathtub and 30mm GAU-8 cannon, the “Hawg Out” ceremony was both an ending and a celebration.
“The A‑10 is iconic, but what made it legendary was the team behind it,” Sebren said, according to the release. “The pilots continuously adjusted tactics and the A-10 support network from software engineers to depot artisans and everyone in between kept an aging aircraft relevant far longer than anyone expected. The A-10 community embodies the warrior ethos we strive for, and legacy of the A-10 belongs to that entire team.”
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