tom d. friedman wrote:
clarify something.... these thuds are lined up to this day??? for what?? guard training??
Yes, those airplanes are at Lackland AFB today, as we speak. They are in the Security Police training compound, used to train brand new USAF cops about flightline security procedures. Remember, new recruits may have never been around aircraft before, plus there *is* no real flightline at Lackland (unless you include Kelly Field), and there is certainly no piece of flightline that could allow training like that to occur.
So, Lord knows how long ago, this training flightline was created and is still used to this day.
tom d. friedman wrote:
sounds like a waste of our tax $$$$$$
How so? The police in training need a realistic looking environment to train in. The cops don't care what kind of aircraft are actually there as it doesn't affect their ability to train. The airplanes have been there for literally decades -- about the only money they need is probably an occasional coat of paint to keep them looking good. They also have a bunch of C-135 fuselages sitting out there to do the same thing, as well as that secondary flightline I mentioned with the Huns on it.
How is that a waste of money?
The waste of taxpayer money would be if they scrapped the airplanes because someone thought they were 'too old' and they paid to truck in a dozen old F-15s or F-16s from AMARC. It would also be a waste of taxpayer money to ship these things off to a museum somewhere in that same situation. New airplanes would have to be hauled out of AMARC (at taxpayer cost), transported to San Antonio (at taxpayer cost), installed on the flightline and prepped for sitting out there in the weather (at taxpayer cost).
Obviously, eventually that scenario will play out and the airplanes will be replaced...but if the airplanes are serving their purpose right now what is the problem?