IL A-10 Thunderbolt II was built to find tanks, not boaters. But in late April 2026, two Warthogs training over central Florida turned their night vision goggles and targeting pods on Lake Arbuckle and helped deputies find a 73-year-old man who had gone overboard in the dark.

A Broken Boat and a Man Overboard

According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, two boaters called for help when their boat broke down on Lake Arbuckle and left them stranded. A second call followed: while they were trying to fix the engine, one of them, a 73-year-old man, had fallen into the water, and his companion could not find him. Deputies searched with patrol boats, helicopters and drones as the light faded.

“Keep Clear” Becomes “Can We Help?”

Two A-10s from the 74th Fighter Squadron at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, were training over the neighbouring Avon Park Air Force Range. The sheriff’s office contacted them only to ask them to stay clear of the airspace where its helicopters were working. Instead, the pilots suspended their training and offered to join the search.

By the time they reached the lake, it was dark. The flight lead, who was qualified as a “Sandy” rescue escort pilot, scanned the water through his night vision goggles and noticed a faint light that appeared to be coming from a cellphone. He slewed his targeting pod onto it, found the stranded boat and talked the sheriff’s helicopters onto it. The second pilot used his pod’s thermal imaging to search the wetlands and the water for the missing man.

The man was found a short distance away, near the shoreline, with minor injuries to his arm, and was taken to a local hospital.

Sandy: the A-10’s Other Job

Finding people is not new to the Warthog. A-10 pilots have long flown the “Sandy” mission, escorting rescue helicopters into hostile territory, finding and protecting downed aircrew and coordinating the whole recovery. The name comes from the Vietnam-era A-1 Skyraiders that first flew the role. According to Task & Purpose, seven A-10s escorted two Air Force rescue helicopters on a daylight mission to recover a downed F-15E crew member in Iran in spring 2026.

The type is now in its final years with the Air Force. We have followed its drawdown in A-10 Weapons School Closes While the Warthog Flies to 2030 E Nellis A-10 Departure: The Warthog Leaves Fighter Town USA.

What the Popular Version Gets Right

The story as it is circulating is accurate: the two stranded boaters, the 73-year-old who fell overboard, the search with boats, helicopters and drones, the two Moody A-10s training over Avon Park that were only asked to keep clear, the night vision goggles and the cellphone light, the targeting pod and thermal search, the man found alive with minor arm injuries, and the 23rd Wing spokesperson’s comment. The jets came from the 74th Fighter Squadron.

Sources: Kyle Rempfer, “Two Air Force A-10s rescued lost boater on Florida lake”, Task & Purpose (1 May 2026), citing the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and the 23rd Wing; US Air Force, 23rd Wing.