Blue Angels & Thunderbirds coming back in 2014

Yep, teams are back on but almost all other fly-by's (the majority that happen) are still cancelled. From the wording in the message that the Pentagon put out, they may never be back. Too bad, I loved doing football and NASCAR fly-bys.
 
EvilEagle said:
Yep, teams are back on but almost all other fly-by's (the majority that happen) are still cancelled. From the wording in the message that the Pentagon put out, they may never be back. Too bad, I loved doing football and NASCAR fly-bys.
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Will you guys at least be flying airshows (a fly-by or something)?
 
Don't know yet. Maybe static displays will be allowed, but it sounds like fly-bys are a goner.
 
It's interesting ,the government realizes that general aviation is ready to step in and fill the void in some circumstances. Now they loose one of their greatest advertising tools for enlistment.
 
Will look forward to the Blues coming back to KGJT in a few years. I'll go and stand at the fence during Friday practice and probably end up a blubbering mess. Since KGJT and the Blues was always dad's favorite show.
 
EvilEagle said:
Yep, teams are back on but almost all other fly-by's (the majority that happen) are still cancelled. From the wording in the message that the Pentagon put out, they may never be back. Too bad, I loved doing football and NASCAR fly-bys.
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The sound of a kerosene burner is thrilling... BUT... All the private experiemental fly overs at NASCAR races in the last couple of months has stolen the military thunder...:yes:

And the 49 ship RV formation over Arrowhead Stadium was VERY impressive...... :yes::)
IMHO...
 
N801BH said:
The sound of a kerosene burner is thrilling... BUT... All the private experiemental fly overs at NASCAR races in the last couple of months has stolen the military thunder...:yes:

And the 49 ship RV formation over Arrowhead Stadium was VERY impressive...... :yes::)
IMHO...
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Just think ,49 aircraft in formation with no tax money or government assistance. Will always like the service jet teams ,but if you like to fly any flyover is fun.
 
I will believe this when they actually fly the whole season. The Joint Chiefs testified in the past few weeks before the House Armed Services committee. The issues facing the services budgets if they don't lift the sequester are very considerable in 2014 and crippling in 2015. Not so say they wont do this season but I suspect budget issues may well cause it to be either cancelled or cut short yet. The optics of demo teams flying while troops have insufficient funding to train and carry out operational missions may be too much.

Carl
 
SportPilotCO said:
.....The Joint Chiefs testified in the past few weeks before the House Armed Services committee. The issues facing the services budgets if they don't lift the sequester are very considerable in 2014 and crippling in 2015. .....
Carl
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ALOT of the expenditures in the military is for lavish, VERY expensive retirement pensions and benefit packages for the generals and other top end folks who worked at the Pentagon and all other military installations... That figure is in the tens of BILLIONS of dollars a year... They are all about preserving those payments and to hell with funding the troops and their needs....
 
N801BH said:
ALOT of the expenditures in the military is for lavish, VERY expensive retirement pensions and benefit packages for the generals and other top end folks who worked at the Pentagon and all other military installations... That figure is in the tens of BILLIONS of dollars a year... They are all about preserving those payments and to hell with funding the troops and their needs....
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I'd say that the expenditures you speak of for General officers probably pale in comparison to those of the O-5/O-6 crowd. Obviously the O-7+ crowd makes somewhat more, but there just aren't that many of them. There are approximately 1 billion retired CDR/LtCol and CAPT/Col's running around. That isn't to say that your point isn't valid, but I'd argue that the bulk of that money is not going to flag officers.
 
Ahh yes, everyone derides government spending except for their own little pet program.
 
So an airline pilot who flys for 30 yrs and retires should get a pension but a general who serves 30 yrs in the Air Force shouldn't?
 
Velocity173 said:
So an airline pilot who flys for 30 yrs and retires should get a pension but a general who serves 30 yrs in the Air Force shouldn't?
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I would really like to see an accurate comparison of those two packages...
 
I have mixed feelings about the Blues and the Birds. I love to see them fly, but I'd like to see some civil jet teams get some traction in the marketplace. The other issue is that the importance of manned fighter aircraft is likely to decline significantly, so I'm wondering if the flight teams won't shortly be more anachronisms that recruiting tools.
 
As I have always understood it, civilian jets (as well as civilian performers in general) get paid from the airshow coffer. Mil acts/demos are funded by the govt. We have a couple former Blues in my airwing, so I'll have to ask them sometime how the funding split worked, and whether their hotels/suburbans/strippers were paid for out of the TAD funds or by the airshow, but I'm guessing a large part was paid for by you and I. So that probably makes them more attractive from a budget perspective, and mil teams always draw big crowds anyway, which right or wrong, is probably a consideration too. I get what you mean, just sayin that there may be other reasons they are so hyped aside from pure audience preference.
 
35 AoA said:
whether their hotels/suburbans/strippers were paid for out of the TAD funds or by the airshow, but I'm guessing a large part was paid for by you and I.
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I would expect that it is all either TADTAR or possibly OPTAR....well, at least everything but the strippers (they probably use the govt travel card for those).

I imagine the JAGs and Supply folks would be flipping out if they were getting hotels and vehicles comped by the shows.
 
35 AoA said:
I'd say that the expenditures you speak of for General officers probably pale in comparison to those of the O-5/O-6 crowd. Obviously the O-7+ crowd makes somewhat more, but there just aren't that many of them. There are approximately 1 billion retired CDR/LtCol and CAPT/Col's running around. That isn't to say that your point isn't valid, but I'd argue that the bulk of that money is not going to flag officers.
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I'm just guessing, but I'd bet the number isn't anywhere close to a billion. I would wager there hasn't been a billion of all ranks to have served since 1776. I am a retired O-5, I served 26 years, 18 of those years in what many would consider hazardous duty. (Active SAR missions.) A member of Congress can serve one term and garner many times what I do for my years of service. To those who question the validity of my benefits I say this: Get stuffed you whining little bit***s.
 
Every show I have seen with the Birds or Blues or any military presence also has a significant recruiting effort going on. Any of the budget come from that line item?

I'm pretty sure there's no other purpose to the Blues show at KGJT than to scoop up some rural Colorado kids who've never seen an ocean or a ship and convince them they'll all get a job going Mach 3 with their hair on fire.

When they get assigned to any number of other menial Naval positions they can remember their days watching the Blues over the KGJT valley fondly. ;)
 
Threefingeredjack said:
I'm just guessing, but I'd bet the number isn't anywhere close to a billion. I would wager there hasn't been a billion of all ranks to have served since 1776. I am a retired O-5, I served 26 years, 18 of those years in what many would consider hazardous duty. (Active SAR missions.) A member of Congress can serve one term and garner many times what I do for my years of service. To those who question the validity of my benefits I say this: Get stuffed you whining little bit***s.
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I was purely exaggerating there to make the point that there are a lot.....agreed, definitely not a billion, or a million. My old man is a retired CDR as well, and maybe if I play my cards right, maybe I can get there someday too. So no complaints from me. Alls I was saying is that if I were to take a wager at where the CG of mil retirement benefits lies, it would probably be somewhere in the O4 - O6 level. Combination of there being a lot of bodies who retire in those pay grades, as well as the paycheck being significantly higher than that of a retired E6 - E9 (though there are probably more in those paygrades). I'm sure there is some sort of powerpoint out there to either prove me right or wrong, but I'm lazy and haven't searched for it. I agree with your sentiments towards folks who balk at yours and other's retirement.
 
35 AoA said:
I was purely exaggerating there to make the point that there are a lot.....agreed, definitely not a billion, or a million. My old man is a retired CDR as well, and maybe if I play my cards right, maybe I can get there someday too. So no complaints from me. Alls I was saying is that if I were to take a wager at where the CG of mil retirement benefits lies, it would probably be somewhere in the O4 - O6 level. Combination of there being a lot of bodies who retire in those pay grades, as well as the paycheck being significantly higher than that of a retired E6 - E9 (though there are probably more in those paygrades). I'm sure there is some sort of powerpoint out there to either prove me right or wrong, but I'm lazy and haven't searched for it. I agree with your sentiments towards folks who balk at yours and other's retirement.
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By the time you get out they'll have either changed retirement to a minimum of 30 yrs or a 401K type system. :(
 
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