by ROBERT BECKHUSEN
Today, the last few active Fairchild A-10 Warthog comes in standard “Compass Ghost” gray paint with some killer nose art for looks …. depending on the squadron.
Times have changed. The A-10 hasn’t always been so plain. One of the most obscure is the frosty-painted “Snow Hog” from early in the warplane’s career. This white and very dark green—almost black—Warthog flew for several days during Exercise Cool Snow Hog (yes, really) in March 1982.
It was dazzling.
Here’s the background. In December 1982, two A-10s from the 343rd Composite Wing made the trip from their Fairchild Republic factory in Maryland to Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska.
From there, one of the Warthogs received the winter paint job, and the pair of ground attackers moved to a “forward operating location” in Kotzebue, Alaska for the March “Cool Snow Hog” exercise, according to an official Air Force historical review in 2007.
“Cool Snow Hog represented the Air Force’s first test of forward basing A-10s in Alaska,” wrote Don Fenton, the 354th Fighter Wing’s historian. “Overall, the plan called for the Air Force to fly 16 close-air-support sorties in support of the 3rd Scout Battalion of the Alaska Army National Guard.”
