74th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron A-10Cs caught at Lajes en-route Afghanistan

This morning, just after midnight, from Warthog News contributor André Inácio from Portugal I got his very first published picture of an A-10C from the 74th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, 23rd Fighter Group, 23rd Wing, Moody AFB, Georgia, currently en-route to the 451st Air Expeditionary Wing, Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, to replace the 75th EFS (also from Moody) in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

This evening, from André I got pictures of all other aircraft and also some background info which shows that the 74th EFS Hogs arrived at Lajes in three waves:

1st formation, arrived on Tuesday [March 8] about 1556 (local time) as 'Trend 11-15'
78-0674, 78-0688, 82-0660, 81-0990, 81-0947

2nd formation, arrived on Tuesday [March 8] about 1609 (local time) as 'Trend 21-26'
80-0228, 80-0223, 78-0600, 79-0179, 80-0272, 80-0277

3rd formation, arrived on Wednesday [March 9] about 1542 (local time) as 'Trend 31-36'
80-0144, 80-0189, 79-0135, 79-0189, 79-0138, 79-0172

He also wrote: On Thursday, 5 A-10s (78-0674, 82-0660, 81-0990, 81-0947, 80-0277) departed inbound Europe, probably Italy. Due some accident with a civilian plane that broke centreline light of runway, Lajes airport had been closed 4 hours and the other A-10s which went ready for departure, were canceled because of this.


Photos in order of serial numbers:



A-10C 78-0600 from the 74th Fighter Squadron. (Photo by André Inácio) Full size



A-10C 78-0674 from the 74th Fighter Squadron, marked 74FS as the 74th Fighter Squadron boss bird. (Photo by André Inácio) Full size



A-10C 78-0688 from the 74th Fighter Squadron. (Photo by André Inácio) Full size



A-10C 79-0135 from the 74th Fighter Squadron. (Photo by André Inácio) Full size



A-10C 79-0138 from the 74th Fighter Squadron. (Photo by André Inácio) Full size



A-10C 79-0172 from the 74th Fighter Squadron. (Photo by André Inácio) Full size



A-10C 79-0179 from the 74th Fighter Squadron. (Photo by André Inácio) Full size



A-10C 79-0189 from the 74th Fighter Squadron. (Photo by André Inácio) Full size



A-10C 80-0144 from the 74th Fighter Squadron. (Photo by André Inácio) Full size



A-10C 80-0189 from the 74th Fighter Squadron. (Photo by André Inácio) Full size



A-10C 80-0223 from the 74th Fighter Squadron, marked 23 WG as 23rd Wing boss bird. (Photo by André Inácio) Full size



A-10C 80-0228 from the 74th Fighter Squadron. (Photo by André Inácio) Full size



A-10C 80-0272 from the 74th Fighter Squadron. (Photo by André Inácio) Full size



A-10C 80-0277 from the 74th Fighter Squadron. (Photo by André Inácio) Full size



A-10C 81-0947 from the 74th Fighter Squadron. (Photo by André Inácio) Full size



A-10C 81-0990 from the 74th Fighter Squadron. (Photo by André Inácio) Full size



A-10C 82-0660 from the 74th Fighter Squadron, marked 76 FS to honor AFRC's 76th Fighter Squadron, assigned to Moody AFB. (Photo by André Inácio) Full size

Aircraft in order of serial numbers:
A-10C 78-0600, 74th FS
A-10C 78-0674, 74th FS, marked 74FS as the 74th Fighter Squadron boss bird
A-10C 78-0688, 74th FS
A-10C 79-0135, 74th FS
A-10C 79-0138, 74th FS
A-10C 79-0172, 74th FS
A-10C 79-0179, 74th FS
A-10C 79-0189, 74th FS
A-10C 80-0144, 74th FS
A-10C 80-0189, 74th FS
A-10C 80-0223, 74th FS, marked 23 WG as 23rd Wing boss bird
A-10C 80-0228, 74th FS
A-10C 80-0272, 74th FS
A-10C 80-0277, 74th FS
A-10C 81-0947, 74th FS
A-10C 81-0990, 74th FS
A-10C 82-0660, 74th FS, marked 76 FS to honor AFRC's 76th Fighter Squadron, assigned to Moody AFB

Please note:
This post will be updated soon with further details.