As of 1999, most Fairchild A-10A Thunderbolt IIs still in service with the USAF were painted in light ghost gray (FS36375) on undersurfaces and sides, dark ghost gray (FS36320) on top surfaces and sides of the front fuselage, and had a fake canopy applied in gunship gray (FS36118) on the underside of the forward fuselage. This Thunderbolt – serial number 82-655 – was assigned to the Aviano-based 81st EFS (patch shown inset), early during Operation Allied Force. A pilot from this unit, Captain John A. Cherrey, earned himself a Silver Star for action during the recovery effort for the downed F-117A pilot on 27 March 1999, in the wider Srem area, north-west of Belgrade. The aircraft crashed on 27 June 2002 in the forest near Rambeulliers in France and the pilot was killed in the accident. (Artwork by Goran Sudar)