Posted on 04/15/2016 8:47:37 AM PDT by Blood of Tyrants
EXCLUSIVE: Since 1775, the U.S. Marine Corps has prided itself on being “The Few" and "The Proud." But while the Corps takes pride in doing more with less, senior Marine officers are warning that the Corps' aviation service is being stretched to the breaking point.
Today, the vast majority of Marine Corps aircraft can’t fly. The reasons behind the grounding of these aircraft include the toll of long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the fight against ISIS and budget cuts precluding the purchase of the parts needed to fix an aging fleet, according to dozens of Marines interviewed by Fox News at two air stations in the Carolinas this week.
Out of 276 F/A-18 Hornet strike fighters in the Marine Corps inventory, only about 30% are ready to fly, according to statistics provided by the Corps. Similarly, only 42 of 147 heavy-lift CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters are airworthy.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Well, we all know that money can be better spent on LGBTQRSTUVWXYZ discrimination studies.
It’s 1979 squared
Enabled by Mister Boehner’s foolish budget sequestration deal, one suspects.
How much money are they wasting on the embarrassing F-35 moonpig?
I think the current price tag is $300 billion.
Our military under democrats is always underfunded.
The Marines for decades seem to be even more underfunded.
Every petty officer and above in the Navy knew how to use comshaw to swap for needed stuff with other Navy guys to keep their ships and offices running.
See definition of comshaw in the link below with many other interesting Navy terms:
Below is just one of probably a million examples of why our military is underfunded:
Feds awarded $600G for study on why people cheat on taxes
Yep, can remember in ‘78 almost had to sleep on my bird to keep people from canilbalizing parts
It was like this under Jimmah Cahrter. Tanks couldn’t roll for want of parts, fuel and ammo. Choppers deadlined for want of parts. It sucked.
In 77 & 78, we basically shut down training in August and September. I think it was in 78 when our paychecks were delayed a week or so. Not easy when you’re a married EM with a kid or two.
From Marineparents.com:
“The Few. The Proud.”
“The Few. The Proud. The Marines.” is the Marine Corps’ advertising slogan. It won a place on Madison Avenue’s Advertising Walk of Fame during Advertising Week 2007. “This slogan reflects the unique character of the Marine Corps and underscores the high caliber of those who join and serve their country as Marines,” said Maj. Gen. Richard T. Tryon, commanding general, Marine Corps Recruiting Command.
My BC didn’t like it, but I took one of my squads out for training, but I left my jeep in the motor pool. I used my POV to get to the training site.
We saw the same thing under Carter: 1/3 of all aircraft were airworthy. I remember RAF Lakenheath only being able to get 1/3 of their F-111s into the air on any given day. During Reagan’s years that number exceeded 3/4.
I talked with one Marine veteran. She said the desk she worked at was Army surplus - only had 3 legs.
The F-35 is sucking the resources from other essential equipment
Poor allocation of resources doesn't equal underfunding.
The Marines, for example, are roughly at their 1942 strength, but have more high ranking officers than they managed with in wartime. Cut the commandant back to 3, or even 2 stars, with a corresponding reduction in both number and rank of general officers. (Current top ranks are along the lines of what they had when the Marines had about a half million men.
From the article, one squadron resorted to procuring an out of production landing gear door . . . from an aviation museum.
Crew Chiefs for plane maintenance have to be very creative. Your example is excellent and yet sad that our Marines had to that to stay ready.
As Navy guys, we helped Marines re supplies/ammo/food where and when we could.
We knew that no one was better, more capable and reliable re watching our 6’s than our Marines.
Bless you and thank you for taking your turn at the tip of the spear. Now as then I feel more than a little shame that those who keep us safe at night are working with spit and bailing wire.
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