Retired U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Walker briefed Sun Lakes Aero Club members and guests on close air support at the group’s gathering on March 17. He is pictured here displaying a .50-caliber machine gun round and a 30mm cannon shell used by A-10 Warthog aircraft during close air support missions.
Gary Vacin
The troubled relationship between the Army and the Air Force over close air support (CAS) was the theme of a presentation to the Sun Lakes Aero Club gathering on March 17.
The speaker was U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Thomas Webster who specialized in CAS missions during his 30-year career in the Air Force and Air National Guard. There he flew CAS missions flying A-10 and F-16 aircraft. Because of troubles experienced in close air support during military operations in Afghanistan, the Army was once again finding fault with current CAS capabilities. Webster listed four major areas to accomplish more effective CAS: training, doctrine, trust, and dialogue.
Webster showed a short video of the A-10 Warthog aircraft in live CAS action taken during the Gulf War. The A-10 is famous for its fearsome GAU-8 Avenger 30mm gatling gun mounted in the nose, capable of firing 3,900 rounds per minute. Its primary mission was to support ground forces by attacking tanks, armored vehicles, and other ground targets. The Warthog destroyed more than 400 enemy tanks during the Gulf War.
Webster’s talk was the last in a series of aviation-related topics presented at 2024-25 Sun Lakes Aero Club gatherings. The club will resume activities in November. Future speakers will include Valerie Adams, whose topic will be “Rise and Fall of Pan American Airlines,” on Dec. 15, and Dik Cusveller, former KLA captain, on Jan. 19, 2026. Other speakers will be announced in future issues of the Splash.
More information is available from Cannon Hill at 509-539-7857, Gary Vacin at 480-298-7017, or at the club’s newly developed website sunlakesaeroclub.org.