No More Public AirShows

sarahann

5-Year Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2013
Messages
59
The USAF just annouced:

Effective March 1, active-duty, Reserve and Guard units will cease all aviation support to the public. This includes the cancellation of support to all air shows, tradeshows, flyovers (including funerals and military graduations), orientation flights, heritage flights, F-22 Raptor demonstration flights and open houses, unless the event includes only local static assets.

From Their Facebook Page....thoughts? I think the USAFA graduation should still have the Thunderbirds!!
 
Good. It's a waste when there are more important things to do with that money. Feel the same way about the million bands the military has.
 
Good. It's a waste when there are more important things to do with that money. Feel the same way about the million bands the military has.

I get trying to save money but SERIOUSLY that is not a wase of money compared to what i see on army bases. In Mannheim germany they spent thousands of dollars on replacing playgrounds for a now closed base. Also in Ramstein Air force base the mall that was finished a few years ago was 4 years behind the opening date and wasted hunderds of thosands of dollars because od contracting problems. And in Yongsan army base in korea they are replacing barracks for a base closing in 5 years. The amount of wasted money is stagering and they want to take away the fly overs?!?! I agree with lineinthesand on the bands but not the fly overs
 
Take away Tops in Blue, costs so much money to ship them around, and their turnout is not the greatest, same with any Air Force bands, a.e Band of the Pacific, etc.
Some of these cuts are getting ridiculous, and working enlisted side we're already feeling it. I work Communications, so we need printer paper for charts and other work related stuff, not anymore, our budget is NULL, we have to work with what we're given, which is near to none. Congress needs to look at their paychecks before they look at mine..
 
I get trying to save money but SERIOUSLY that is not a wase of money compared to what i see on army bases. In Mannheim germany they spent thousands of dollars on replacing playgrounds for a now closed base. Also in Ramstein Air force base the mall that was finished a few years ago was 4 years behind the opening date and wasted hunderds of thosands of dollars because od contracting problems. And in Yongsan army base in korea they are replacing barracks for a base closing in 5 years. The amount of wasted money is stagering and they want to take away the fly overs?!?! I agree with lineinthesand on the bands but not the fly overs

I coordinated my service's portion of a DOD program. We flew some people around on an Air Force C-17.

The pilots, at a bar, told the participants "We're using $350,000 in fuel for this." Maybe it was $500,000.

Granted, they probably should have said anything...

Air Shows are VERY expensive.
 
Take away Tops in Blue, costs so much money to ship them around, and their turnout is not the greatest, same with any Air Force bands, a.e Band of the Pacific, etc.
Some of these cuts are getting ridiculous, and working enlisted side we're already feeling it. I work Communications, so we need printer paper for charts and other work related stuff, not anymore, our budget is NULL, we have to work with what we're given, which is near to none. Congress needs to look at their paychecks before they look at mine..

I'm fine with a service having a central band, ONE central band, for ceremonial purposes.

They have MUCH more.
 
I The amount of wasted money is stagering and they want to take away the fly overs?!?! I agree with lineinthesand on the bands but not the fly overs

Agreed! For me, fly overs at local festivals in KY are part of what got me interested me in the Air Force! It has inspired me to become a pilot, air shows are exposure for people like me. I get that some people may not understand that though...
 
Agreed! For me, fly overs at local festivals in KY are part of what got me interested me in the Air Force! It has inspired me to become a pilot, air shows are exposure for people like me. I get that some people may not understand that though...

Oh I think everyone understands it. However, because of the way the sequester was set up the military doesn't have any say about which buckets money comes from. Recruitment activities, of which this is one, will take some heavy cuts. Not to say it's all the team represents but its a big part of it.
 
Good. It's a waste when there are more important things to do with that money. Feel the same way about the million bands the military has.

I feel the same way about the bands, but where is the waste in flyovers? They are going to conduct these same training missions anyways, so what is 30 seconds out of a much larger training mission?
 
However, because of the way the sequester was set up the military doesn't have any say about which buckets.
Agreed. I think the military will be much smarter about their cuts in October when they have 12 months to work with and some discretion on where to cut. Assuming there is actually a budget by then.
 
My favorite saying is perception becomes reality. If the military budget cuts are really deep, then the last thing you want to show the public is a dog-and-pony show. Doing flyovers during supposedly deep cuts would be giving the wrong impression.

It was a smart move to shelf the flyovers for the time being.
 
Agreed. I think the military will be much smarter about their cuts in October when they have 12 months to work with and some discretion on where to cut. Assuming there is actually a budget by then.

They should have been smart about it now. It's not like the sequester was something new that popped up in the last week and nobody had any idea it was coming... The DoD just kept their head in the sand until the last minute.
 
My favorite saying is perception becomes reality. If the military budget cuts are really deep, then the last thing you want to show the public is a dog-and-pony show. Doing flyovers during supposedly deep cuts would be giving the wrong impression.

It was a smart move to shelf the flyovers for the time being.
Completely agree.

Also the flyovers are largely a recruiting tool and I am not under the impression that the AF or any other branch is having difficuly attracting qualified people at this time. No need to spend the money if they don't need to recruit.
 
I feel the same way about the bands, but where is the waste in flyovers? They are going to conduct these same training missions anyways, so what is 30 seconds out of a much larger training mission?

Well that's part of the point. They won't be conducting those training missions. Hundreds of thousands of flight hours are being cut as well.
 
They should have been smart about it now. It's not like the sequester was something new that popped up in the last week and nobody had any idea it was coming... The DoD just kept their head in the sand until the last minute.

No. The sequester dictates how the cuts be made. Maybe not the specific programs, but certainly the specific pots of money.
 
no more flyovers

If the AF has to restrict flyovers and graduation festivities at USAFA then maybe they should also cancel golf trips on AF1. I believe the last estimate was 187,000 dollars per hour. I am a parent of a C2C and a hopeful class of 2017 Candidate waiting for a BFE. Living near McDill in Florida, I will miss the HUGH airshows in Lakeland, Tampa and Port Charlotte. Both my sons grew up with me taking them every year. They met the pilots and wanted to be just like them someday and with hard work they will one day. I hate losing any traditions in this country but that is progress. Maybe next year they can ban Christmas trees at the WH. I sound resentful but after hearing the Navy cannot put another carrier in the Gulf, we are sounding like a 3rd world country.
 
They should have been smart about it now. It's not like the sequester was something new that popped up in the last week and nobody had any idea it was coming... The DoD just kept their head in the sand until the last minute.
No. The sequester dictates how the cuts be made. Maybe not the specific programs, but certainly the specific pots of money.
Agree with Kinnem. Additionally, I doubt the DOD ever seriously thought that Congress would sit on their hands for 18 months and let these sequestration cuts take effect. With an actual budget number, the ability to choose where the reductions are made, and 12 months to implement them, I think we'll see a much smarter approach to reducing military spending in the future.
 
The value of 10's of thousands of people looking up and absolutely KNOWING they are citizens of an awesome nation is priceless, absolutely priceless.

This is even more true when there are so many blatant efforts to have our fellow citizens feel shame about being an American--to believe that we are a second rate nation behind the likes of Europe, the UK, Canada, etc.
 
The US can do what it wants even put that carrier out to sea but it is all about priorities and politcal posturing. The waste we have in our govt is enormous and the problem is the owners of the business (taxpayers have lost control.) It is about time government made some hard choices like the rest of the business world and individuals have had to do. The amount of waste the US govt has could fund several third world nations (which is also part of the waste)

With regards to fly overs they are nice to have but not nescessary to the functioning of the air force.
 
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