Buddy Squadron is a traditional joint training event of U.S. and South Korean air forces, which dates back to the 1990s. The 25-4 iteration of the exercise is the last for the A-10C based at Osan Air Base.
U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt IIs (also known as the Warthogs), assigned to the 25th Fighter Squadron (FS) of the 51st Fighter Wing (FW) at Osan Air Base, South Korea, participated in the first edition of this year’s “Buddy Squadron” exercise with the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF). “Buddy Squadron 25-4” was held from Jan. 21 to Jan. 24, 2025, and was the last one for the local A-10Cs, before the type commences the withdrawal from the country.
The service announced in Nov. 2024 the intention to retire its 24 South Korea-based A-10s by fiscal year 2025, while simultaneously upgrading the 7th Air Force’s F-16s. Within the Indo-Pacific region, the service aims to deploy the advanced F-15EX variant and more F-35A Lightning II fighters as part of a larger modernization of the PACAF (Pacific Air Forces).
The A-10 phase out plan is meanwhile part of a service-wide decommissioning effort. At least 39 from other USAF units were sent to the “boneyard” at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, between Jan. 2024 and Sep. 2024, according to official monthly inventory reports from the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG).
Buddy Squadron 25-4
U.S. Forces Korea said on X that the 25th FS “Draggins” headed to Wonju on Jan. 21, 2025, for this year’s first Buddy Squadron event. The ROKAF assets involved are assigned to the 8th Fighter Wing and comprised FA-50 Golden Eagle fighters, KA-1 Woongbi turboprop training and light attack aircraft and the USAF’s 51st FW/25th FS A-10Cs which, as mentioned, are there for the final time as they are set to be retired this year.
This year’s first bilateral training, which will run from Jan. 21 – 24, involves the 8th Fighter Wing FA-50 fighter jets, KA-1 air control attacks, and the U.S. Air Force 51st Fighter Wing A-10 attacks, which are set to be retired this year! pic.twitter.com/hLntLm5Dyt
— U.S. Forces Korea (@USForcesKorea) January 22, 2025
Images and information released on the DIVDS network said Buddy Squadron 25-4 allowed the 25th FS to “reinforce long standing relationships with ROK Air Force members, while celebrating the A-10’s history.” Another caption for the photo of an A-10 leaving the shelter at Osan confirmed “the group departed for Wonju Air Base to participate in a Buddy Squadron for the last time.”
South Korea also hosts the USAF’s 8th Fighter Wing (FW) “Wolf Pack,” based at Kunsan Air Base, who’s 80th FS and 35th FS fly the F-16 Block 40. Osan’s 51st FW also oversees the 36th FS which operates the F-16 Block 40, beside the A-10s of the 25th FS.
Two each of A-10s, FA-50s and KA-1 flew together during Buddy Squadron 25-4 to “share and practice flying concepts, tactics and deepen the relationship between the two nations.” Both the FA-50s and A-10s were carrying a mix of inert AIM-9 Sidewinders and AGM-65 Mavericks.
South Korea’s semi-official Yu Yungwon TV released a video of the drills and said that “this will be the last time the A-10 Thunderbolt, which is scheduled to be retired from the Korean Peninsula this year, will participate” in the joint exercise.
The U.S. Air Force, after reaching Wonju Air Base on Jan. 21, received “local procedures and safety and security training.” They then proceeded to “improve their joint operation execution capabilities and strengthen teamwork through practical training such as Close Air Support (CAS) and Surface Combat Patrol (SCP) missions,” a machine translation of the video’s description said.
A-10 retirement
While specifically commenting on retiring the Indo-Pacific-based A-10s, U.S. Forces Korea deputy commander and Seventh Air Force chief Lt. Gen. David Iverson said in Nov. 2024: “By introducing advanced fourth and fifth-generation aircraft like our upgraded (F-16 Fighting Falcons), along with (F-35 Lightning IIs) and (F-15EX Eagle IIs) in the Pacific region, we are significantly enhancing our overall air combat capabilities in the Korean theater.”
Osan-based A-10s also often visit the Japan Self-Defense Force base at Yokota. Meanwhile, data from the AMARG at Davis-Monthan AFB mentioned that 17 A-10s were sent to the boneyard in 2023, and at least 39 were sent between Jan. 2024 and Sep. 2024. The service targets divesting a total of 56 A-10s from its inventory in 2025, according to a budget report from the Undersecretary of Defense on Apr. 4, 2024.
最近的一个美军蛮大的动作（不知道干嘛来了）
一共14架A-10（全部挂着外挂油箱）从韩国的美军基地起飞，直飞到日本横田基地🤔🤔 pic.twitter.com/zSS6943Fvs
— 艾布拉姆斯🇺🇸💙💛 (@SuTNkwfrFkMhHsG) May 24, 2021
Stars and Stripes quoted a 7th Air Force spokesperson Maj. Rachel Buitrago who said that the A-10s would be replaced in phases as the Air Force packs its fourth generation F-16s with “pivotal upgrades” to bring it “closer to fifth-generation capabilities” in 2025. F-35A Lightning IIs, F-16s, FA-50 Golden Eagles and F-15K Slam Eagles from the U.S. and South Korean air forces “are more than ready to fill the role of the A-10” on the peninsula, Buitrago said in the report.
In Japan the Pentagon wants to replace older F-15C/D Eagles from Kadena Air Base, in Okinawa, with the more advanced F-15EX, and swap the F-16s at Misawa, in northern Japan, with 48 F-35As. Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy is also replacing its F/A-18 Super Hornets at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in southern Japan with F-35Cs.
Exercise history
“Buddy Squadron” is unique to South Korea (or Republic of Korea), as a tradition between the ROKAF and U.S. Air Force instituted in the late 1990s. The semi-annual event has helped ROKAF and U.S. Air Force fighter pilots “share and practice flying concepts and tactics while also building and developing relationships between the Airmen.”
Accordion to the descriptions of “Buddy Squadron 25-1,” held in mid-Oct. 2024, the “program is a tradition unique to the ROK dating back to the late 1990s” where U.S. and South Korean pilots “exchange knowledge”. It was first conducted in 1991 as “Friendship Training”, before being renamed to “Buddy Squadron Training” in 1997.
The Oct. 2024 drills also had members from ROKAF’s Wonju-based 8th FW working with the USAF’s 25th FS flying the A-10 Thunderbolt IIs. That iteration of Buddy Squadron included “academics, knowledge exchange, social events and combined flying missions.” A-10 Thunderbolt II, FA-50 Golden Eagle and the KA-1 Woongbi were involved that time too.
Two @usairforce A-10 Thunderbolt II’s assigned to the 25th Fighter Squadron fly alongside a Republic of Korea Air Force KA-1 Woongbi during an exercise near Osan Air Base, 🇰🇷 South Korea. pic.twitter.com/tYezbOc3Mc
— Department of Defense 🇺🇸 (@DeptofDefense) July 24, 2022
“Buddy Squadron 25-3,” held early in Dec. 2024, saw USAF’s 8th FW/80th FS F-16s from Kunsan flying with ROKAF KF-16s, working to “generate and sustain combat airpower from dispersed locations in support of joint force objectives.” They also strengthened “shared tactics, training and procedures.”
