The Maryland Air National Guard, based in eastern Baltimore County, deactivated its last remaining A-10 Thunderbolts on Tuesday, leaving Maryland as the only state without planes to deploy in an emergency.

Maryland’s guard has flown A-10s, ground attack jets nicknamed Warthogs for their battlefield toughness and rugged appearance, since 1979. Its 104th Fighter Squadron has completed nine combat deployments with the planes over the last 20 years.

The U.S. Air Force announced in March 2024 that the Maryland Air National Guard would stop flying the aging A-10s and transition to a cybersecurity unit, as part of an effort to refocus the unit’s mission.

Despite intense lobbying by state leaders, including Gov. Wes Moore, the Air Force has not yet assigned Maryland a replacement flying mission.

Moore was among hundreds of uniformed airmen, elected officials, veterans and family members who attended Tuesday’s inactivation ceremony inside a hangar at Warfield Air National Guard Base in Middle River.

“This is a moment of anger and frustration, but it’s also a moment of deep pride,” said Moore, a Democrat, as he stood in front of the guard’s last remaining A-10s. “No matter the darkness, no matter the danger, the Maryland Air National Guard was always ready and always there.”

A-10s are twin-engine jets armed with a high-powered gun. They’ve provided close air support to ground troops for decades, striking tanks, armored vehicles and smaller enemy aircraft in conflicts across the Middle East, the Balkans and Afghanistan. A video during Tuesday’s ceremony described the planes as “guardian angels from above.”

Maryland Army National Guard Maj. Gen. Janeen L. Birckhead said that what the aircraft lacked in elegance and speed, it made up for in reliability, versatility and lethality.

“It’s an extraordinary piece of iron, and it’s one of a kind,” Birckhead said. “For our ground troops in combat with the enemy, [there] is nothing like hearing the approach of an A-10.”

In December 2024, Moore and other state leaders thought they had succeeded in landing a flying mission to replace the A-10s. The Air Force agreed to transfer a D.C. Air National Guard squadron of F-16 fighter jets, responsible for protecting the capital’s airspace, to Maryland.

The move was reportedly part of a complex political deal: In exchange for the jets, Maryland’s two Democratic senators at the time, Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, dropped their opposition to a bill granting D.C. control of federal land around RFK Stadium. The city planned to build a new football stadium on the land, with the goal of drawing the Washington Commanders from their current home in Prince George’s County.

But Maryland never received its end of the football-stadium-for-military-jets trade. The plan to transfer the F-16s, which faced a number of administrative and logistical hurdles, was scrapped soon after President Donald Trump returned to the White House earlier this year.

Moore and the state’s congressional delegation have publicly criticized the Air Force for not providing Maryland a replacement flying mission, arguing that the decision threatens national security and could displace hundreds of experienced pilots and mechanics.

Current airmen likely must choose between retiring, relocating to another base or retraining in the new cyber mission.

Van Hollen will “continue to press the issue of a follow-on flying mission with the Pentagon and the White House” while also helping to ensure the success of the new cybersecurity mission, a spokesperson for the senator said in an email.

The retirement of Maryland’s A-10s also could mark the end of nearly a century of military aviation history in eastern Baltimore County.

In 1929, aviator Glenn L. Martin moved his airplane manufacturing company onto 1,200 acres of land in Middle River, establishing an airfield that today is Martin State Airport. During World War II, the factory served as one of the biggest military airplane production plants in the world, building thousands of B-26 Marauder bombers used in battles across Europe and the Pacific.

The Air National Guard has operated from Martin State since the 1950s. But state Sen. J.B. Jennings, a Republican, said in an interview that the transition to a cyber mission raises questions about the guard’s future in Middle River.

“You could put a cyber wing anywhere,” said Jennings, a member of the Maryland Air National Guard since 2008. “There’s always that fear that the military will say, ‘Hey, why are we paying that lease there?’”

The Air Force has said it plans to ground its remaining A-10s around the country by next year, arguing that the planes will struggle to operate safely amid stronger threats from surface missiles and other modern defenses.

The Maryland Air National Guard phased out the first of its 21 A-10s in March, sending the planes to an Air Force base in Arizona known as a boneyard that stores and repurposes hundreds of retired aircraft.

In May, Maryland transferred two additional planes to the Michigan Air National Guard.

On Monday, another of the decommissioned A-10s returned to Hagerstown, the city where it was originally built in a Fairchild Republic factory in the 1970s. The plane will remain on permanent display at the Hagerstown Aviation Museum.

After Tuesday’s ceremony, current and former airmen lingered outside the hangar to catch a final glimpse of the two remaining A-10s, which would depart soon for Michigan. Many posed for pictures and hugged their fellow service members. Others traced their fingers along the planes’ wings.

Retired Col. Tim Smith served for 30 years in the Maryland Air National Guard, flying and commanding A-10 combat missions in Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq. He traveled from his home in Virginia to attend the inactivation ceremony.

“I wanted to come give the A-10 a hug,” Smith said.