About 60 of the Air Force’s A-10s ground-attack platforms are still not flying due to concern over wings cracks, but are expected to be cleared for return to flight status by the end of the month, two Air Force generals told lawmakers Tuesday. In a joint written statement presented to the Senate Armed Services’ airland subcommittee June 9 (see above), Lt. Gen. Mark Shackelford, military assistant in the service’s acquisition shop, and Maj. Gen. Marke Gibson, director of operations on the Air Staff, said the inspect and repair program that the Air Force put in place last fall after the issue came to light has whittled the number of grounded A-10s from about 240 down to the 60 or so. “We anticipate these will all return to flying by the end of the June,” they wrote. While the Air Force has an initiative in place to install new wings on 242 A-10s which have the comparatively thinner skinned wings that are more susceptible to cracking, the wing installations are not scheduled to begin until Fiscal 2011.
The Pentagon’s new Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military has 90 days to find ways to combat the problem within the ranks, and the group will consider all options to address an issue that has “shattered the dreams” of many service members who joined with optimism about…