Quote:
|
I dont know about airframes. I would be more moved if it was armored vehicles needed on the ground in Iraq.
|
whether we are at war or not, we always have planes in the air. the only thing that varies is the number of hours/missions. that requires aerial refueling. the refueling fleet is in serious trouble due to age. we just phased out an airframe that was in excess of 40 years old in favor of one that came off the line the same year. the only difference was the engine model. the replaced version was obsolete two generations ago, the new one was obsolete one generation ago.
because of the maintenance issues that go along with age, the birds spend a lot of time on the ground and cost a lot of money in hours/missions lost, as well as materials. the new airframe's weren't just new, they had a design that allowed for virtually a complete overhaul in less than 1/3 the time.
armor on the ground is something you hear a lot about in the news, but it is misleading. even if they don't have enough - they do have the newest and best available. aerial refueling is an absolute necessity and it is being done with inferior equipment and not enough of it, at that.
this was nothing than a political play between bush/rumsfeld (who aren't spotless on the issue) and McCain (who thought ego was more important than the mission)
Quote:
|
Land deals...? They're all about making your own money. Thats no real surprise.
|
land is about making money. BUT the public purpose that they are raising funds for is the protection of a military base. they have signs posted everyone to show everyone how supportive they are of the base. they will vote and jockey for upgrades to the base. then they will stand by and pretend they are surprised when the base goes on the BRAC. all the while knowing that they can now flip the land to new investors when they jockey to have the old military base turned into a civilian airport. they did it before...