Four A-10C Thunderbolt II aircraft from the Maryland Air National Guard fly in formation over the state in May 2023. Air National Guard A-10s that were stranded at NAS Sigonella in Sicily for months returned to the U.S. on Jan. 18, 2025, a Maryland National Guard spokesman said Jan. 22. (Rachel Underwood/ Air National Guard)
Six Air National Guard jets stuck at a Navy base in Sicily for months have returned to the U.S., a Guard official said.
The A-10C Thunderbolt II aircraft departed from Naval Air Station Sigonella last week and arrived in the U.S. on Saturday, Maj. Benjamin Hughes, a Maryland National Guard spokesman, said Wednesday.
Four of the jets, also known as Warthogs, were at Warfield Air National Guard Base at Martin State Airport in Maryland as of Monday, Hughes said.
The status of the remaining two attack jets, which are assigned to the Michigan Air National Guard, was unclear. A spokeswoman for the unit was verifying their location Thursday.
The Warthogs had been parked at Sigonella since November after a routine stop there while returning from deployment to the Middle East.
Five of the planes needed repairs before making the trans-Atlantic flight, leaving only one that was mission-ready. The timeline for repairs was dependent on parts availability, the Air Force said at the time.
Shortly after Stars and Stripes asked about the Warthogs, officials announced they were scheduled to leave on Jan. 16.
The Air Force is working to divest itself of the A-10, a combat workhorse popular for its ability to offer close-air support to troops on the ground.
Still, the Warthog continues to have a presence in U.S. combat, especially in the Middle East where, among other missions, American personnel are helping with efforts to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.
A-10s supporting ground forces recently in Iraq “were successful in eliminating the ISIS fighters within a cave,” U.S. Central Command said in a Jan. 6 statement.
And on Nov. 29, A-10s were flown to strike militants preparing a rocket rail near Mission Support Site Euphrates in Syria.
While the 175th Wing of the Maryland ANG was on deployment, most of its missions supported anti-ISIS operations, the wing said in a statement Nov. 1.
