From
Task and Purpose
By
David Roza
Like a Russian nesting doll,
recently-released photos of a black-painted A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft
contain layers of badassery that become all the more impressive the more you
learn about them.
The photos show a black-and-grey painted A-10 from the Indiana
Air National Guard’s 122nd Fighter Wing, based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The
paint scheme is named “Blacksnake,” which is the moniker for members of the
122nd and a nickname for Fort Wayne’s namesake, Army Maj. Gen. Anthony “Mad
Anthony” Wayne.
Who is Mad
Anthony? A Revolutionary War hero, Wayne led his troops against impossible odds
on battlefields up and down the East Coast. He was famous for his methodical
fighting style, where he had his troops wait for the exact right moment to
strike, according to a press release about the paint
job. The tactic was similar to that of the North American Black Snake, which
led Native Americans to Lgive Wayne the nickname “Black Snake.”
“The Blacksnakes are proud of the name’s historical significance
and connection it gives us to our local community and hometown of Fort Wayne,”
said Air Force Master Sgt. William Hopper, a spokesman for the 122nd.
The name is also fitting for the A-10, a legendary
aircraft that is famous for doling out overwhelming firepower right when ground
troops need it
most. Maj. Gen. Wayne probably could have used some of
that himself on July 16, 1779, when he and 1,350 troops under his command snuck
up on British positions at Stony Point, about 30 miles north of New York City.
Under cover of darkness, Wayne had his troops climb the rugged slopes of the
north and south sides of the Point while another battalion launched a
diversionary attack on the eastern side. With the British troops distracted, he
and his men sprang into the stronghold and captured it in 20 minutes, according
to the National
Park Service.
While the
Battle of Stony Point was Wayne’s most famous achievement, and one for which
Congress gave him a medal, he also fought at Philadelphia, Monmouth, Yorktown,
and Georgia, where he and his infantry often battled overwhelming odds. He got his
nickname “Mad” from “possessing a foolhardiness in battle that went beyond
prudence,” according to one biography, an impression he
enhanced by using “florid, impetuous language.”
“A bloody track will mark my setting sun,” he said, should he be
killed in battle, according to the biography, “Anthony Wayne, Soldier of the
Early Republic,” by Paul David Nelson.
A
bloody track Wayne certainly left across the midwest, where after the
Revolution the general led 1,000 soldiers over the Northwest Indian Confederation,
ending Native American resistance in the region. Over 200 years later, members
of the Miami tribe protested the Fort Wayne City Council’s resolution to
declare a “Mad Anthony Day” because of his role removing Native Americans from
their land and contributing to their “genocide,” as one city council member
said.
For good or bad, Wayne’s
“Blacksnake” legacy looks good on the 122nd’s A-10, which also sports fangs and
snake eyes around its 30mm rotary cannon. The paint job also features a large
number “100” and the years “1921-2021” which celebrate the 100 years of
military aviation that have passed in the Indiana Air National Guard since it
first launched the 137th Observation Squadron in 1921.
We can’t wait to see what paint job the 122nd comes up with for
the 2121 anniversary. Until then, this Batwing look is positively BRRRT-iful.
https://taskandpurpose.com/culture/air-force-black-paint-job-indiana/
Link
at thisainthell.
