The combat search and rescue mission known as CSAR is entering a period of crucial uncertainty as the Air Force presses forward with plans to retire the A-10 by fiscal year 2029.
This shift comes amid questions about which platforms will carry the Sandy badge next, and how the mission will be sustained with crews steeped in decades of specialized training.
The Sandy callsign has a long lineage in American airpower, tracing back to late 1965 when Capt. J. W. “Doc” George and an A-1 Skyraider crew arrived at Udorn and chose the moniker used by CSAR teams protecting downed aircrews.
The name stuck, passed through replacements, and ultimately defined the Saltwater-worn identity of the rescue mission that remains the gold standard for close air support and evacuation under fire.
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The Sandy ethos has persisted even as the airframe changed, moving from the Skyraider to the A-7D Corsair II and finally to the A-10 Thunderbolt II, whose loiter time and survivability have made it uniquely effective for CSAR.
The Air Force’s transition questions extend beyond airframes to the human element—the pilots, the rescue crew, and the trust built through nearly five decades of joint operations.
Discussions are still ongoing regarding the use of multi-role platforms serving in the A-10’s Sandy 01 RMC role, the Sandy 2, 3 and 4 escort roles, an Air Combat Command spokesperson said. The same applies to the Sandy 2, 3 and 4 escort roles, the spokesperson said.
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The service’s transition plan emphasizes expertise over a single airframe, a shift echoed in official statements that emphasize experience and readiness as the core of CSAR’s future.
The Air Force is leveraging the extensive experience of its A-10 pilots to ensure a successful transition to other aircraft, the 355th Wing Public Affairs office said.
A-10 pilots bring a wealth of expertise in close air support and combat search and rescue experience, which is invaluable as the A-10 continues to divest and they transition to 5th generation assets like the F-35.
The Pentagon is carefully reexamining future Close Air Support and Combat Search and Rescue requirements, the 355th Wing Public Affairs office said, including how the Air Force will validate the effectiveness of its multi-role fighter fleet in performing all aspects of the CAS mission.
No specialized Sandy qualification program for any successor platform, such as the one that existed for the A-10 for many years, has been confirmed to exist or be under development.
Lt. Col. Joel Bier, a retired Weapons School instructor and Sandy 1 mentor, argues that the core issue is not simply whether a different airframe can execute the mission, but whether the pilot can be properly trained for it.
No other pilots train to Close Air Support, Forward Air Control (Airborne), and Combat Search and Rescue with the ferocity of the A-10 community, Bier said. The challenge is not just platform capability but the depth of CSAR-specific training that makes the Sandy mission what it is, because CSAR is fundamentally different.
It is friendly-centric and combines elements of air superiority and contingency planning at lower speeds and longer durations that fighter platforms do not routinely train to.
In a 2016 evaluation at Nellis, Lt. Col. Joshua Wood, an F-35 pilot, observed that direct platform comparisons can be misleading. When a former A-10 Sandy 1 instructor cross-trained into the F-35 and stepped into a CSAR exercise, Wood said, “No kidding, he shows up and within five minutes on station he’s quarterbacked the whole thing.
They’ve rescued the survivor and everyone goes home.” He later noted that “I would say 75% is the pilot.” Those comments echoed Bier’s warning that the pilot’s CSAR background may outweigh the airframe in many cases.
The debate has tangible consequences. If the Air Force proceeds with final A-10 divestment in fiscal year 2027, significant CAS and CSAR capabilities risk being lost due to the compressed timeline, Bier warned. Extending the remaining A-10 squadrons until a viable replacement is identified offers a logical bridge.
The key, he added, is selecting an aircraft to deliberately carve out dedicated squadrons with a Designed Operational Capability statement for the Sandy/CSAR mission, including a dedicated training mandate and unique Air Force Specialty Codes to prevent diluting that training in the larger multi-role platform community. These actions protect the Sandy community from mission creep and preserve its unwavering commitment to the CSAR covenant: that others may live.
As a matter of policy and national resolve, some in Congress have insisted on maintaining CSAR readiness as part of a broader national security strategy.
Representative Scott has argued that for 50 years the A-10 Warthog has reliably supported critical missions, and he has pressed to slow the retirement, saying, We must ensure that our military is properly equipped with the best weapons systems available.
The renewed focus on CSAR in the NDAA reflects a bipartisan insistence that rescue operations remain robust even as platforms evolve.
Looking ahead, the service faces a critical choice. If the United States is to preserve Sandy’s legendary effectiveness, the War Secretary and the leadership team must ensure that, regardless of platform, CSAR’s core competencies are preserved and reinforced.
The trust between the A-10 and the rescue community is absolute, Lieutenant Colonel Ryan Rutter recently said, reminding us that the mission’s success depends on more than airframes. It depends on the people who fly them, the crews who ride with them, and a system that keeps the rescue story truly alive.
The question remains, and the clock ticks. The rescue force’s future depends on timely decisions that honor decades of preparation, sacrifice, and a shared dedication to bringing our comrades home.
The Sandy tradition stands as a symbol of that commitment, and it is incumbent on War Secretary and the rest of the leadership to safeguard it, because those who risk everything deserve nothing less than a proven path forward.
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