Horatio Hogbreath
( The story of Haratio Hogbreath as told by MR. Hank Carouso )
Junkyard Hog
When naming a new flying machine, it’s always safe to invoke the name of a past legend. Therefore, in a bureaucratically conservative move, the powers that be bestowed the formal appellation of Thunderbolt II upon the A-10. Thunderbolt may have been the right name for the venerable P-47, but no one associated with the A-10 has ever called it by its “proper” name. Instead, it has always been simply “Warthog” to it’s pilots and ground crews. The name fits: the A-10 is ugly, tough, and mean.
My career as a professional aviation artist really began with the Fairchild (originally Republic) A-10. It was the first aircraft that I drew that had a visible personality, complete with tusks and a grim stare. Over time the tusks grew, the whiskers grew, and the personality intensified. The awesome GAU-8 cannon is always prominent and I like to add a touch of grass to the wingtip to emphasize its mission of flying in the weeds to press home its attack.
Even though it was never intended to be an air combat fighter, the A-10 can nevertheless hold its own down on the deck, especially when the adversary becomes careless. Granted this doesn’t happen often, but “Guns, Guns, Guns” (top left) was inspired by a Connecticut Air National Guard HUD photo which showed the hapless Eagle driver centered in the Warthog’s sights.
“Junkyard Hog” depicts the Warthog’s first actual combat exposure during Operation Desert Storm in January of 1991. It’s pilots had been trained for a European conflict with hills and trees for cover and daylight for targeting. Instead, they fought over flat desert terrain, often at night, in an aircraft with no radar or night vision capability. Nevertheless, the Warthogs destroyed so many Iraqi tanks and other armored vehicles that good targets were soon hard to find.
The Strange and Wonderful Saga of
Horatio Hogbreath
One of my favorite characters over the years has been Horatio Hogbreath, the generic hogdriver for the A-10 Warthog. I first drew the Hogbreath character in 1979 as an “ice breaker” introduction slide for a friend of mine in the marketing department at Westinghouse. The Hogbreath image drew many favorable comments from the A-10 drivers at the 354th TFW, which eventually led to two series of Hogprints illustrations. Many of these images found their way onto squadron training manuals, standardization documents, and letterhead. A gun-toting Horatio was also officially adopted as the Maryland Air National Guard’s “airplane patch.” Bootleg versions also found their way onto the patches of other A-10 squadrons as well as the inside of many A-10 boarding ladder doors.
In the beginning, the character did not have a name. At the same time, the squadron newsletter at Myrtle Beach had been using the name “Horatio Hogbreath” as the byline for some of its features. A phone call from Captain Harry Walker resulted in a successful match of name and image that was just waiting to happen.
Now a complete hog, Horatio found his way into many aspects of A-10 squadron life. Perhaps the most intriguing was his introduction to Wonda Warthog (top left). Hopelessly smitten with this vision of porcine wonderment, an emotion-choked Horatio responded with the letter shown below left. No one knows what happened in their relationship after this first encounter, and Hogbreath isn’t talking.
However, years later Lois Abney, the 353rd TFS wife that first introduced Wonda to Horatio, wrote, “Thanks again for Horatio and his rose. It’s a very fond treasure. He captures perfectly the warrior and lover we wives love in all of our fighter pilots husbands, at least the ones who fly close to the ground and carry a big gun
