The A-10 Thunderbolt II was assigned to the Myrtle Beach Air Force Base from 1977 to 1993. It was manufactured by the Fairchild Republic Corporation and traces its name, Thunderbolt II, back to the Republic Aircraft Corporation's Army Air Corps P-47 of World War II fame. The A-10 was a rugged, highly maneuverable and survivable aircraft, ideally suited to supporting close combat operations of ground troops. Given the fierce power of its 30 mm Gatling gun and its enormous bomb carrying capacity, the A-10 was affectionately known as the "Warthog."
( photo caption ) Major Gilbert Talbot, a pilot the in 354th Fighter Bomber Group, and Master Sergeant Joseph Scruggs, an armorer, examine the 500 pound bomb slung under a wing of the Major's Republic P-47 Thunderbolt in June 1945.
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