Navy Blue Angels Fly Into Era Of Budget Questions

miamiair (netAirspace FAA) 23 Nov 11, 15:57

PENSACOLA NAVAL AIR STATION --

The Navy's Blue Angels have been thrilling audiences for more than six decades with their acrobatic flying in fighter planes, but a new era of federal budget worries and proposed deficit cutting has some inside and outside the military raising questions about the millions it costs to produce their shows.

Some want the popular shows grounded and some readers of the Air Force Times newspaper — most of them active or retired service members — recently listed eliminating the Blue Angels and similar programs as one way to cut defense spending.

The Pentagon spends $37 million for the Blue Angels, whose mission is to enhance recruiting for the Navy and Marines and to be their public goodwill ambassador. That's a fraction of the Pentagon's $926 billion annual budget, but that's not the point, critics say. They argue that lots of smaller programs will have to be eliminated to meet required spending reductions.

Automatic cuts triggered by the collapse of the debt supercommittee in Washington this week combined with spending reductions previously hammered out by President Barack Obama and Congress mean that the Pentagon would be looking at nearly $1 trillion in cuts to projected spending over 10 years.

The Air Force's Thunderbirds and the Army's Golden Knights paratroopers also perform big public shows.

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And let's get one thing straight. There's a big difference between a pilot and an aviator. One is a technician; the other is an artist in love with flight. — E. B. Jeppesen

Click Click D'oh (Photo Quality Screener & Founding Member) 23 Nov 11, 16:12

Besides the rather obvious PR bonus the Blues give the Navy and Marines... Airshows are just a portion of what the Blues do. The Navy would be insane to but them. Their return has to be several times the monetary investment.

There's a documentary on the Blues, I think on Discovery, that covers what the Blues do between shows. Fat Albert is a busy airplane flying charity or disaster relief flights year round, even during airshow season.

We sleep peacefully in our beds at night because rough men stand ready to do violence on our behalf

halls120 (Plank Owner) 23 Nov 11, 18:39

Military bands cost 300 million per year. I'd start cutting there first.

At home in the PNW and loving it

captoveur 23 Nov 11, 19:19

halls120 wrote:Military bands cost 300 million per year. I'd start cutting there first.

Exactly what I was going to say. I often read the comments on articles at AF.mil and it seems the rank and file are pretty much fed up with the military musicians and people in other fields going on tour with the band, while their units are left a man down. It seems the shows aren't even too popular these days unless attendance is made mandatory.

I like my coffee how I like my women: Black, bitter, and preferably fair trade.

Zak (netAirspace FAA) 23 Nov 11, 19:59

halls120 wrote:Military bands cost 300 million per year. I'd start cutting there first.

Wow...

America seems to be much more musical than I had thought. :))

Ideology: The mistaken belief that your beliefs are neither beliefs nor mistaken.

Cadet57 24 Nov 11, 23:50

halls120 wrote:Military bands cost 300 million per year. I'd start cutting there first.

You'd think for $300mil a year they'd teach a couple of their honor guard members how to play taps instead of using the fake, pos, digital bugle.... {sarcastic}

halls120 (Plank Owner) 25 Nov 11, 13:10

There should only be 8 funded military bands - one each for the Air Force Academy, Annapolis, and West Point, and one each for the services. The rest should be defunded immediately.

At home in the PNW and loving it

Cadet57 25 Nov 11, 17:05

halls120 wrote:There should only be 8 funded military bands - one each for the Air Force Academy, Annapolis, and West Point, and one each for the services. The rest should be defunded immediately.

Idk, the AF Jazz Band is pretty good....

halls120 (Plank Owner) 25 Nov 11, 19:37

Cadet57 wrote:
halls120 wrote:There should only be 8 funded military bands - one each for the Air Force Academy, Annapolis, and West Point, and one each for the services. The rest should be defunded immediately.

Idk, the AF Jazz Band is pretty good....

I'm sure it is. We need to spend money on troops and equipment, not trombones.

At home in the PNW and loving it

Cadet57 26 Nov 11, 12:58

halls120 wrote:
Cadet57 wrote:
halls120 wrote:There should only be 8 funded military bands - one each for the Air Force Academy, Annapolis, and West Point, and one each for the services. The rest should be defunded immediately.

Idk, the AF Jazz Band is pretty good....

I'm sure it is. We need to spend money on troops and equipment, not trombones.

I know. Hence:

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