ABDR Events by Aircraft Type
Figure 64 of the report summarizes damage frequency by aircraft area.

Damage Areas
The histogram in Figure 65 characterizes the time required to repair the battle damage. Because of the limited number of aircraft sustaining battle damage, it is probably unwise to use the battle damage repair data as conclusive evidence of any particular trend. It is instructive, however, to compare the early expectations of the ABDR concept with the experience of Desert Storm. In 1976, the Institute for Defense Analysis published a report titled The Impact of Battle Damage on A-10 Availability and Sortie Rate. The report, citing the success of Vietnam-era rapid area maintenance teams, recommended the creation of teams specially trained to perform temporary, field-expedient battle damage repair on A-10 aircraft and is the report that led to the ABDR concept. Based on a fairly extensive simulation analysis, the study concluded that a dramatic saving of time is possible by following the temporary repair doctrine. Figure 66 compares the repair times presented in the 1976 IDA report with those of the fifteen A-10 Desert Storm battle damage incidents on which we were able to obtain repair data. It should be evident that the Desert Storm A-10 ABDR experience is consistent with 1976 expectations in the sense that over fifty percent of the aircraft were returned to service within four hours. Because of the limited amount of battle damage to other than A-10 aircraft, the comparison was not extended to other aircraft types.

A result of the limited need for battle damage repair was that ABDR teams and technicians functioned in their traditional combat logistics support squadron (CLSS) roles (i.e., performing heavy maintenance) or were simply integrated into the maintenance organizations where they were stationed. The ABDR personnel at Taif are an illustration. Sourced from the 2951st CLSS, 406th CLSS and 2953d CLSS, the 81st Taif ABDR technicians were integrated so thoroughly into the Taif maintenance organization that they held the supervisory positions in the Fabrication Shop, Structural Maintenance Shop, one of the Aircraft Maintenance Units, and the Electric Shop.

MOST RECOGNIZABLE & FEARED AIRCRAFT

Thunderbolt II "Warthog"

Interviews with captured Iraqi military personnel underscored the overall effectiveness of the A-10, a seemingly ubiquitous threat, that delivered its weapons with deadly accuracy.

According to an Iraqi captain captured by American forces on 24 February 1991, the single most recognizable and feared aircraft at low level was the A-10. Not only did the actual bombing run of the A-10 evoke terror, but also the plane's ability to loiter around a target area prior to its attack caused additional anxiety, since Iraqi soldiers were unsure of the chosen target.

Many Damages: Approx 70 A-10 aircraft suffered some type of battle damage during Desert Storm. Many of the damages were undocumented cases of relatively minor problems. Some were even caused by their own aircraft such as a bomb lanyard slapping a wing flap, or a bomb fragment flying up and embedding into it's engine cowling. But most was caused by small arm fire and surface to air missiles.

We had put together "Quick Fix" teams to deal with all these damages. At first we would go out to the revetment the aircraft parked in after returning from a mission, and give it a quick once over inspection for any damage. However, with the large number of minor damages we were finding, this process soon turned into tertiary inspections performed out at EOR itself, which gave us time to radio ahead for a Quick Fix team to be waiting for the aircraft to park.

I remember too many nights out at EOR, waiting in the EOR tent, warming up MRE's on the light-all engine, and hoping we didn't find too much big damage. It was an excellent spot to be in to watch Scud missiles as they flew over... hopefully over that is.