A-10 76-0540 was assigned to the 23rd Tactical Air Support Squadron (TASS), 926 Tactical Fighter Group, (TFG) New Orleans Air Force Reserve. Became the first heavily damaged aircraft on January 31, 1991 suffering major damage when struck by a surface-to-air missile. All hydraulic controls were lost. The pilot, Major Jim Rose, managed to bring it home to us first landing at KKMC and then limped back to KFIA using backup systems. 76-0540 sat out the rest of the war due to lack of parts. TSgt Runge and TSgt Patrick McGee (me) removed and replaced the entire empennage on this thing, in the field, a depot level task. An amazing feat if I do say so myself :)
It did finally fly, leaving Saudi to McClellan AFB, where it supplied parts for other A-10's for awhile until August 22, 1991 when we (2951 CLSS) put her on static display at the McClellan AFB Aviation Museum (now Aerospace Museum of California), North Highlands, Sacramento, CA.
