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Flyover State: Military Says Sequester Could Mean Goodbye to Those Airplane Demos Before Big Games (But Is That the Full Story?)

Mar. 1, 2013 9:22am Jonathon M. Seidl

We’ve already heard a lot of scary stories about Friday’s upcoming cuts to planned government spending (know as sequestration). Maxine Watters, for example, said on Thursday the entire workforce could be laid off (although we think her numbers were off). Friday’s midnight deadline came and went, and now we’re getting word that the cuts the president first championed but is trying to blame on Republicans could hit the sports world — that’s right, this could be the end of those military flyovers before big games.

“Due to federal budget issues, the sporting world will soon have to say goodbye to flyovers,” Yahoo Sports reports, based on a piece by NBC News:

And they’re not the only ones.

“The Thunderbirds are expected to stand down effective April 1. (Las Vegas) is pretty much going to be, I think, the last flyover you’ll see for a while from us,” Wendy Varhegyi, chief of the engagement division for Air Force public affairs, explained to USA Today.

And there’s more. She blamed it on the s-word: “And then at that point, we’ll reevaluate. … Sequestration is a 10-year problem, so we just don’t know.”

But wait, is there really a direct correlation? Get a load of what Varhegyi went on to admit.

“It’s no additional cost to the government for support of any public events,” she added. “Typically, if you see a unit fly over a football game, that is 90 seconds out of a several hour training sort that they’re flying.” [Emphasis added]

In other words, it doesn’t cost the government much, if any, extra money to do the flyovers because many are already part of training missions.

Indeed, that was what came out of controversy surrounding the Super Bowl flyover in 2011 when the Navy sent several F-18 fighter jets to rumble over a closed roof in Dallas. Many were outraged that government would allot a whopping $450,000 for a flyover that no one inside saw. But as CNBC pointed out, those weren’t all the facts:

Many in the media quoted a $450,000 cost to taxpayers for the flyover over the closed Cowboys Stadium.

The number was arrived at by Dallas TV reporter Byron Harris of WFAA who reported that the cost breakdown was based on the operational cost of the aircraft combined with the time it took the pilots, who flew from Virginia to Texas, to fly the mission. Harris provided the information given to him by the Air Force to CNBC.

But Mike Maus, deputy public affairs officer for the Naval Air Force’s Atlantic division, told CNBC that he isn’t aware of the specific tables that Harris obtained. He says that the only cost of the trip that the Navy records is the fuel cost, which was $109,000.

Maus also said he thought the press was mischaracterizing some aspects of the flyover.

“These missions are included in the annual operating budget of all branches of the military and they are used as training,” Maus told CNBC at the time. “There was no additional money provided to us, Congress did not cut us a special check to do this flyover. This is considered a training mission whether they were to fly over the Super Bowl or not.”

And that doesn’t factor in the cost of free advertising. It’s at least an argument the military has used int he past, like when flyovers become a hot topic around the time of the 2008 Super Bowl.

“For the publicity aspect of it, I’d say it’s definitely well worth it when you consider the cost to advertise during the Super Bowl,” Blue Angels press officer Capt. Tyson Dunkelberger told the Orlando Sentinel back then. “The more people see our blue jets and recognize the Navy, the better it is for us.”

So where does that leave us? Are we really going to see an end to flyovers?

It’s possible, but it should be noted that the loss of the big-game staple is an effect of budget cuts to the military in general, not a specific line-item scratch. That’s because, according to the spokespeople above, flyovers aren’t a separate item to begin with — it’s all just part of training. The Blue Angels, however, are a different story. It appears sequestration would directly affect the Navy’s elite demo team.

Maybe cuts to the military (there will be some) and thus training will still outrage you — but now you’ll at least be armed with all the facts if someone tries to tell you that Republicans and their budget cuts have killed the military flyover.

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Comments (58)

bikerdogred1
Posted on March 1, 2013 at 10:35am
Will the last one out shut the lites off,thank you.

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- soybomb315_II
  Posted on March 1, 2013 at 11:16am
  Meh, the less people who worship power the better
  
  If the cost to the government is indeed low – then why cant the event pay for it?
  
  Report this comment
- JRook
  Posted on March 1, 2013 at 3:42pm
  I thought the blue angels were the better more experienced pilots. Exactly how much more training do they need to fly their 8 to 10 standard formations and fly byes. This is exactly the problem with every aspect of the government. We start to consider $100,000 to $400,000 expenditures as not being that large. The blue angels themselves are neither necessary or integral to the air force of the national defense. The whole program should be cut.
  
  Report this comment
- katzkiner
  Posted on March 2, 2013 at 5:15am
  Take a look at Holder’s top of the line business jet. He uses it for personal travel an reimburses the government at COACH.
  
  Report this comment
termyt
Posted on March 1, 2013 at 10:34am
Oh no! That’s the last straw! Let’s go back to endless, limitless spending so undervalued fans with over priced tickets can see a jet for 0.5 seconds over their heads!

Here’s an idea, how about the sport promoters take a few thousand out of their millions in profit and pay for the jets? Capitalism will work again if we go back to it.

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SpankDaMonkey
Posted on March 1, 2013 at 10:25am
.
In the picture the jets are flying over a dome stadium with the roof closed……..

I still think getting the fans to fold paper plane’s idea is a good one…..

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AnAmerican111
Posted on March 1, 2013 at 10:22am
Who cares?
About time you looked at cutting frivolous expenses

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FlagWavingPatriot
Posted on March 1, 2013 at 10:07am
When are we going to stop Air Force One flyovers? The guy wastes millions upon millions of OUR dollars to fly across country, give a speech, then return home.

America is being raped by these corrupt politicians.

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justangry
Posted on March 1, 2013 at 10:07am
Oh $hit, is there a survival seed for that?

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ChangeAll
Posted on March 1, 2013 at 10:03am
Is anyone aware that these same pilots are brought in after their performance by helicopter to watch the game in the press box?

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- COFemale
  Posted on March 1, 2013 at 11:19am
  That is generally a false statement by you. It might happen during high profile games like the Super Bowl if the Thunderbirds or Blue Angel pilots because their team is on the ground, but a general flyover is just that a flyover. The pilots continue on to their destination.
  
  Report this comment
JIMC5499
Posted on March 1, 2013 at 10:02am
Don’t people bother to read the article before commenting? Those fly overs DO NOT cost anything extra. Those planes are going to fly anyway. As a matter of fact they are GOOD training. Think about this. The planes that over flew Dallas for the Super Bowl, launched out of Oceana Virginia and flew to Dallas Texas, so that they were over the stadium at a specific time. Can you say “Time on Target”? I can think of a few places where that might come in handy.
Since most of these fly overs take place on weekends, it is usually Reservists or Air National Guard getting the training.

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- Stoic one
  Posted on March 1, 2013 at 10:30am
  A sour note…A practice strafing run of the American public?
  
  Report this comment
Tigress1
Posted on March 1, 2013 at 9:55am
Nothing like doing a training mission over a stadium filled with thousands of people. Just because it is included in a budget doesn’t mean that it isn’t wasteful. I could include pink feather boas for all the Congressmen in the budget but that doesn’t mean it’s necessary.

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wilbstal
Posted on March 1, 2013 at 9:54am
We dont need the waste, these planes should be flying over Communist Citys here in America loaded with Bombs

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ChangeAll
Posted on March 1, 2013 at 9:52am
Is anyone serious?? This is totally laughable when considered in relation to our debt problems!! Who the H… is running this country? Must have been the Pope as we seem to have a govt. in absentia.

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SpankDaMonkey
Posted on March 1, 2013 at 9:51am
.
Just give the fans a piece of paper they can fold their own planes…..

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WakingSheep
Posted on March 1, 2013 at 9:45am
I don’t care for NASCAR but I do understand that they pay for their own fuel though.
Any air shows or flyovers for games on our dime though; is a joke.

Hear about all the money we just sent to the Syrian rebels?

F’ing joke…..

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Cavallo
Posted on March 1, 2013 at 9:45am
Ohs Noes.. what will we EVER DO!!! The WORLD WILL END!!! Someone.. quick give me a bag.. I.. am… starting.. to… hyperventilate!

I also think we can find a lot more waste than that, especially with the plush extra comforts some of these high and mighty brass and administrators and bureaucrats and politicians enjoy.

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Outlaw_Josey_Wales
Posted on March 1, 2013 at 9:40am
Instead of flyovers, honor some veterans while playing the national anthem at the sporting events.

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tommytruck
Posted on March 1, 2013 at 9:40am
LOL – Who cares? I always wondered who was paying for that crap and always hoped it was the NFL. Again – Who cares? They are war fighters – send them to war.

- Tommy Truck

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SocialistSlayer
Posted on March 1, 2013 at 9:37am
I always thought it was a waste of taxpayer money anyway. While they are at it they can cut out the Air Shows also.

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- Trigus
  Posted on March 1, 2013 at 9:47am
  yes, i agree. Now we need to give all Security at Federal Buildings furlough. We need to cut off all aid to Terrorist groups in Syria.
  
  I find it ironic that the president who should be classified as a domestic terrorist – by the definition – is willing to hurt AMericans with cuts, but not cut wasteful things like flyovers, or air shows, or even funding and supplying Syrian Terrorist.
  
  Report this comment
- JRserious
  Posted on March 1, 2013 at 9:49am
  BULLCRAP ON THAT. I pay my taxes and i want to see an air show. if you want to cut something, cut some of those obama seperate vacations. you travel together or not at all. cut funding of Bolivias oil production. cut foreign aid to people who are calling for jihad against us. cut cowboy poetry festivals. cut artwork made out of feces. cut government seminares held in foreign countries. its calleda teleconference, learn about it.
- Xanderson
  Posted on March 1, 2013 at 10:57am
  But, can we pleeeeeeaaassseeee keep the $600,000.00 that has been approved for the Global Warming Musical that’s in the works? We need ALL government programs–especially the assinine ones!!
  
  Report this comment
ares338
Posted on March 1, 2013 at 9:36am
Ooooooh….that really scares me! WHO CARES?

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mrunner
Posted on March 1, 2013 at 9:35am
Hmmm… let’s see. Sentence my daughter to a life of serious debt to the Federal Government, or give up flyovers at sporting events? As much as I love those flyovers… I love my daughter more!

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kaydeebeau
Posted on March 1, 2013 at 9:34am
Well ok – we have got to be able to say some things are non-essential to the efficient and fiscally responsible functioning of govt and stop them

Responsible households make spending prioritiy decisions everyday – When money is tight we all cut out things that are nice to haves but not essential – time the govt learned to do the same.

I suggest that for questions concerning essential govt functions the Fed look to Article I Sect 8 of the Constituion……..

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Outlaw_Josey_Wales
Posted on March 1, 2013 at 9:31am
No problem, we can do without flyovers.

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ones-own-truth-and-ideals
Posted on March 1, 2013 at 9:30am
yeah, blame the repubs obama real mature. we ultimatly would have been better electing a 10-year old into office atleast we would know what to expect then. but no we had to get the one who acts like a 5-year old and blames everyone else for his problems. weak obama, really weak!

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PIGSWILLNEVERFLY
Posted on March 1, 2013 at 9:29am
0 is USING the sequester to cut things he wants to end permanently…. Do you think they planned this..Oh, yes. Now he can cut the things he does not want and blame the Republicans at the same time. Win for his Marxist view of how to bring down USA. He is a double-dealing four flusher.

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AUsername
Posted on March 1, 2013 at 9:27am
i don’t want them flying over and making noise so i don’t see a problem with that. Also no other country is considering to attack the USA so we don’t really need as many troops and weaponry as we got.

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- kaydeebeau
  Posted on March 1, 2013 at 9:36am
  Have you not been paying attention to what is goiing on and being said in the Middle East and the jihadi loving muslim brotherhood?
  
  Report this comment
- AUsername
  Posted on March 1, 2013 at 9:49am
  If they wanted to they would have, because our goverment would have allowed it like they did with 9/11 to push an agenda of some banks, corporations and zionists.
  
  Report this comment
- Walkabout
  Posted on March 1, 2013 at 10:10am
  AUSERNAME
  
  We are already under attack. It is called cyber-warfare..
  
  Have you ever heard of assymmetric warfare?
  
  Some enemies plan years in attacking another country. Consider Sargon of Akkad. He was going to fight Lugal-Zage-Si of Umma, who ruled ancient Sumer. Lugal was more powerful than Sargon.
  
  So instead of marching south to attack Lugal, he proceeded to attack the cities to his north.. Then he swung east toward the Zagros mountains & attacked cites between the river & the mountains.
  
  Finally he turned south & defeated Lugal.
  
  So if someone was to attack European countries or other countries in short order they could become a threat. Also do not only look at the budgets. Look at what the little (?) money these countries spend buys. It is called PURCHASING POWER PARITY.
  
  If China spend 5 million dollars to buy 100 tanks equal to the M1 does it matter that it costs 1 billion dollars for us to buy 100 M1 tanks? Could you say China is no threat because we outspend them 10 to 1? If you do then there is no point in having a conversation with you or listening to you.
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purchasing_power_parity
  
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Gonzo
Posted on March 1, 2013 at 9:27am
I think we’ll survive.

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