Pilots with roots in Valley savor the challenge of flying Warthogs

By Peter H. Milliken

Introduced in 1975, the Warthog is scheduled to fly until 2044.

VIENNA — The pilot of an A-10 Warthog flies solo, serving as pilot, navigator, gunner and bombardier in this versatile twin-engine jet, which is specially designed to support ground troops, day and night.

For two ambidextrous pilots of these planes who grew up in Mahoning County, the weekend’s Thunder Over the Valley air show was a homecoming.

Lt. Col. John O’Brien, a 1985 graduate of Cardinal Mooney High School in Youngstown, and Capt. Mike Stock, a 1997 graduate of West Branch High School, fly these planes with the 103rd Air National Guard Fighter Squadron based at Willow Grove, Pa., near Philadelphia.

Three of the Warthogs were displayed at the air show, two from Willow Grove, and one from Barksdale Air Force Base near Shreveport, La.

The Warthog, which features a large Gatling gun and carries missiles and laser-guided bombs, has withstood the test of time. First delivered to the Air Force in 1975, the plane is scheduled to remain in service until 2044, O’Brien said. “There’s nothing that’s going to replace it with the same capability,” he observed.

A mechanical engineering graduate of Case Western Reserve University, where he was enrolled in ROTC, O’Brien has served tours of duty in Kosovo in 1999 and more recently in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Having flown the A-10 since 1996, he flew 33 combat missions in Kosovo, where he participated in the rescue of an F-117 pilot who was shot down. He said he also flew 30 to 35 combat missions each in the A-10 in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“What attracted me to this airplane is this is the last of the stick and rudder airplanes, where you still have to have a map out. It harkens back to the good old days of flying,” O’Brien said.

“To me, it’s more challenging as a pilot,” than flying planes with advanced avionics, he said. “There’s a lot of stuff to keep track of, and it’s challenging for me as opposed to having the computer figure it out for you and just doing what the computer tells you,” he added.

“If they need me to go into combat again, I’d certainly volunteer to do that,” he said.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.