This past Saturday, over 160 men and women gathered to exchange memories of the 354th Tactical Fighter Wing and the A-10s it supported. Between 1976 and 1993, 76 of the bombers were located at Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, supported by 3.900 civilian and military employees of the 354th.

Organized by Donald Ollis of Conway, the reunion took place at the VFW Hall in Murrells Inlet. A civilian who worked for the Air Force Engineering Technical Service, Ollis trained personnel on the maintenance of the A-10s.

Ollis began planning for the event in January, using the Internet to find his old friends from the 354th. Former support personnel came from as far away as Alaska, Tennessee, California, Florida, and Pennsylvania for the event.

General Bob Reed, who served as commander of the 354th, was on hand to welcome attendees and share memories of the Warthogs. "The A-10 was built specifically for support of the Army," explained Reed, now retired and living in Myrtle Beach. "It's a close-air support airplane whose missions are flown in direct support of Army troops in combat."

Designed for maneuverability at low speeds and altitudes, the A-10 provided accurate weapons delivery against ground targets, especially armored vehicles. "It has a 30 mm. cannon – an enormous projectile, capable of penetrating the armor on tanks and destroying them," said Reed.

Jeff Jefferson, a former maintenance chief who traveled from Sacramento for the reunion, spoke with admiration of the Warthog's design, which included redundant systems and components so that one could take over if the other failed. "It's basically an aircraft wrapped around a gun, made for ground support. They made it to take a beating," he said.

Debbie Miller Skovinski of Charleston served in the Air Force from 1974 to 1983, and worked as a crew chief in Myrtle Beach. "The A-10 was simple," she said at the reunion. "It had clip locks on some of the panels that were used all the time, so we didn't need a lot of tools to take it apart. It was very easy to maintain."

These qualities made the bombers a vital asset to the U.S. during Operation Desert Storm. "We took 151 A-10s to Saudi Arabia, and did what we were asked to do: contain the Iraqis and destroy the armor," said Richard Helms, a Conway man who worked on the bomber in its early development and served as maintenance superintendent for the 354th. "In fact, 45% of all the armor destroyed was done by the A-10 aircraft." More recently, A-10s flew in missions over Kosovo.

At the reunion, Debbie Skovinski reflected on renewed friendships with her former co-workers. "A lot of these people haven't changed. They may look a little older, but they're still the same people I remember."

The bond between the members of the 354th is strengthened by the group's loyalty to the aircraft they once supported. "I was at Myrtle Beach when the A-10s first got here. We felt like we were in on the ground floor, finding out what the planes could do," Skovinski said. "We had a certain camaraderie."