After flying in from Osan Air Base at the close of its final air show appearance, the aircraft was demilitarized at Camp Humphreys by Airmen from the 51st Maintenance Squadron, Osan Air Base and other supporting units.
Recognizing that the A-10 couldn’t clear any gates along Desiderio Army Airfield, the team, comprised of Soldiers and Airmen coordinated cranes, road closures and detours. They ultimately set Aug. 2 to begin the operation.
“We had a lot of moving pieces,” said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Michael C. Alstrin, crash recovery section chief, 51st Maintenance Squadron, Osan Air Base. “We started by towing the aircraft to the perimeter fence, lifting it by crane, towing it down the main base road, then doing a second crane lift onto its final resting place.”
Moving the A-10 was a complex, multiunit operation that required shutting down the airfield and Pacific Victors Avenue, said U.S. Army Capt. Kevin N. Pham, operations officer, Directorate of Public Works, U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys. Soldiers, Airmen and civilian personnel worked in unison to ensure the entire process was carried out safely from start to finish.
“We lifted a 26,000-pound aircraft from one point to another, then towed it,” said Pham. “It’s not every day you tow an A-10 down Pacific Victors Avenue, right past the doorsteps of Combined Forces Command Headquarters, but we got it done.”
U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Joseph A. Flood, maintenance project lead, 25th Fighter Generation Squadron, said the precision of the move came from clear communication and trust between every member of the team.
“As a whole, it was an amazing team effort,” said Flood. “Everybody was on par, everyone was on point, working closely, staying safe, and making sure the aircraft arrived in a timely fashion.”
Built in 1981, A-10C Thunderbolt II tail number 81-0979 first flew on March 28, 1983, and served across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. It flew with the 511th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Royal Air Force Bentwaters, England and the 81st Fighter Squadron at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, before converting to the A-10C configuration in 2005.
It deployed over the skies of Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom, providing close air support to troops on the ground. In 2011, it joined the 25th Fighter Squadron at Osan Air Base, continuing the A-10’s long watch over the Korean Peninsula.
“This shows the history of our role in Korea,” Alstrin said. “Anyone coming onto Camp Humphreys can see a part of the joint forces coalition.”
Deployed on a months-long mission to deepen ties among South Pacific nations, two Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JSMDF) ships docked in Wellington in August 2025, marking the first time Japanese naval vessels have made port in New Zealand’s capital in almost 90 years.
The destroyers JS Ise and JS Suzunami sailed into Wellington harbor accompanied by the Royal New Zealand Navy multipurpose ship HMNZS Canterbury. The JMSDF vessels, with more than 500 crew members, arrived from Sydney, Australia, where Japanese and New Zealand forces were among the participants in the multilateral exercise Talisman Sabre.
The ceremonial Wellington visit came as Japan, whose only treaty ally is the United States, has increasingly sought to enhance military cooperation amid Indo-Pacific tensions.
“Our defense force [is] developing cooperative work, not only with New Zealand and Australia but also many Pacific Island Countries,” Japanese Ambassador to New Zealand Makoto Osawa said. “Our main goal is the Free and Open Indo-Pacific.”
Earlier in August, Canberra announced that Japanese firm Mitsubishi Heavy Industries won a contract to build Royal Australian Navy ships, in what officials hailed as the nations’ largest defense industry agreement.
Tokyo, meanwhile, recently deployed three F-35B stealth fighter jets to Nyutabaru Air Base in Miyazaki prefecture in southern Japan. The aircraft, which have short takeoff and vertical landing capabilities, will operate from two JMSDF helicopter carriers. Tokyo plans to deploy 42 of the U.S.-made fighters.
Wellington, too, is enhancing its strategic and military relations in the region, including intensifying Pacific cooperation and security. Officials announced recently that work is underway on a defense logistics agreement with Japan to help the countries’ forces work together.
JMSDF vessels seldom deploy so far south in the Pacific Ocean — the previous visit to New Zealand was a 2016 port call to the nation’s largest city, Auckland. But the resource-rich and strategically important waters around Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Island Countries are increasingly contested.
Although remote, New Zealand has recently been exposed to security tensions. In February 2025, China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy conducted unprecedented live-fire exercises in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, drawing complaints from Canberra and Wellington after commercial flights were forced to divert abruptly.
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