A deal last year to transfer an F-16 Fighting Falcon squadron from the District of Columbia Air National Guard to Maryland, which emerged amid talks last year to redevelop the city’s RFK Stadium is off the table, the White House said.
“The F-16s will stay with the DC ANG,” the White House said in an unsigned email statement to Military.com. “The Trump administration will continue to prioritize readiness and warfighting to achieve peace through strength for the United States.”
A military official familiar with the situation, who spoke with Military.com on condition of anonymity to provide insight into the discussions, said the adjutant generals of D.C. and Maryland had been stuck in a stalemate over terms of the deal.
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The agreement, reached late last year, was initially praised by Maryland lawmakers as a common-sense way to retain a flying mission as the 175th Wing from the state’s Air National Guard starts to divest its fleet of 21 A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, leaving it without a flying squadron. It came amid ongoing discussions for D.C. to gain control of the land around the city’s aging RFK Stadium in an effort to win the Washington Commanders football team back to the district.
Separately, former President Joe Biden signed the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act in early January, shortly before he left office, allowing redevelopment control and oversight of the stadium site.
Last week, Maryland’s 175th Wing divested its first A-10 Thunderbolt from Warfield Air National Guard Base at Martin State Airport. It was announced last year that the wing would transition to a cyber wing mission pending the outcome of an environmental analysis slated to be complete this fall.
The whole A-10 fleet should be sent to the boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona — the final resting place for retired jets and planes.
“While this divestment is part of an Air Force-wide modernization effort, we remain fully committed to fighting for a future flying mission in Maryland,” Maj. Gen. Janeen Birckhead, the adjutant general of Maryland, said in a statement. “Our airmen deserve the opportunity to continue demonstrating their world-class skill in the air as well as in cyberspace.”
In a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth earlier this month, Maryland’s congressional delegation expressed concerns over the A-10 divestment, particularly that talented pilots and maintainers may leave the service if they don’t stay on for another flying mission.
“We ask that you immediately pause the divestment of the A-10s at Warfield Air National Guard
Base until the Air Force finalizes a replacement flying mission,” the letter reads. “We also ask that you work with the delegation to ensure a clear and reasonable timeline for the growth of Maryland’s cyber mission is provided to Congress, but not at the expense of a future flying mission for Maryland.”
The White House, the Department of Defense and the Air Force did not answer questions asking about the new administration’s timeline to divest A-10s or whether they want to continue utilizing the aircraft.
Notably, the Air Force began divesting its first A-10s in 2022 after years of fierce opposition from members of Congress and advocates of the hefty close-support aircraft known as the “Warthog.”
Military.com previously reported that the military had retired at least 39 A-10s to the boneyard in 2024, but was still using the aircraft in training and as a show of force against enemies.
Most recently, more than 300 airmen and several A-10s from Idaho’s 12th Fighter Wing deployed Saturday to support U.S. Central Command, according to a news release. Maryland’s military leadership said their A-10 wing has been crucial to national security.
“The 175th Wing has proven time and again that we are capable of adapting, leading and excelling in every mission we’re given,” Brig. Gen. Drew Dougherty, Maryland’s assistant adjutant general, said in a statement. “But our airmen — and the state of Maryland — should not be left as the only state without a flying mission. It’s more than tradition; it’s a critical component of our national security.”
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