Posted on 07/18/2008 11:45:15 PM PDT by My hearts in London - Everett
The Air Force's top leadership sought for three years to spend counterterrorism funds on "comfort capsules" to be installed on military planes that ferry senior officers and civilian leaders around the world, with at least four top generals involved in design details such as the color of the capsules' carpet and leather chairs, according to internal e-mails and budget documents.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
This does not send a very good message to the troops who do most of the heavy lifting.
It’s not getting good reviews from enlisted personnel in the Navy, never mind the Air Force! Believe it or not, it’s a Democrat who wrote to the Pentagon protesting this extravagance.
Looking at history, I can’t imagine anyone would be surprised to hear about prima donna generals...but you expect more from the U.S. Armed forces, especially in wartime.
I’m glad to have a daughter (21yo) whose paying attention to this kind of thing and is as incensed as I am when I learn of waste and misappropriation such as this.
At the very least it sounds like these four generals are overpaid and under worked. They must be democrats.
Since the early 1990s when SAC was terminated...this has been the leadership trend in the Air Force.
If SAC generals had a requirement to transport VIPs around...they’d roll up a tanker...toss on twenty seats in the back...and a ice box with beer. End of the discussion.
If you walked around various headquarters in the Air Force today, and asked about what projects are going on and what significant expenditures are occurring...you’d start laughing. Both junior officers and enlisted are joking non-stop each day about these “requirements” that folks dream up. The reorg-mania that goes on...twenty-four hours a day...seven days a week...makes these guys look like a bunch of third-world banana republic brass.
I’d like to start a trend...VIP in need of travel...doesn’t matter if you are a general or a senator...climb into a jumpseat for twelve hours and eat out of a cardboard box like your humble soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines. Make an example out of yourself and use shame and peer pressure on any military or political figure who complains. The fact is that the vast majority of these folks...don’t need to travel. They can be just as foolish at home...as they are on the road.
There are some great generals over here and then there are the prima donna types. I sometimes wonder with those types just what sort of butt-kissing they did to get where they are, because it certainly isn't because of their leadership abilities.
“Sounds like at least four top generals need to be demoted, then.”
Four? Good. Issue the appropriate gear, put them in a Humvee, and send them out to patrol Baghdad.
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