A-10 Skullbangers

190th Fighter Squadron "Skullbangers", 124th Fighter Wing, Idaho Air National Guard · USAF · 2021

The 190th Fighter Squadron has flown the A-10 Thunderbolt II from Gowen Field in Boise since converting off the F-4G Wild Weasel in April 1996, carrying the "Skullbangers" name and a grinning skull painted across the Hog's nose — echoed here in the shield's gun-nosed jet, red lightning bolt, and the snow-capped Owyhee ridgeline that Idaho crews range over daily. In April 2021 the squadron hosted Marine Attack Squadron 223, the "Bulldogs" from MCAS Cherry Point, whose AV-8B Harriers flew joint close air support training out of Gowen Field alongside the 124th Fighter Wing. Marines and Guardsmen dubbed the det "Dogs N' Hogs," and SSgt Sally traded for this squadron patch during the exchange — a swap between two of the last dedicated attack communities in American aviation, the Harrier retiring within a few years and the Skullbangers slated to give up their A-10s for F-16s in 2027.