We The People Buy Trump a Birthday Present: Trump planning military parade through DC for 79th birthday

[SimplyMe]

They already have something similar, although not a parade. The Navy Blue Angels have airshows which is how the Navy gets its parade.
Do you think $45 million for a parade once in 250 years is outrageous? A Blue Angels airshow costs $1,250,000 and takes place 60 times---every year. That adds up to $75 million per year. 18.75 Billion is what that comes out to over 250 years.
Math doesn't lie.

I think a question about the Blue Angels, what would the cost be if they were just normal Naval Aviators? We know current fighter aircraft often cost $70 thousand, just in operating costs and, once maintenance and other ongoing costs are factored in, it is up to about $1 million for 3 hours of flight time. With the average combat pilot flying between 180-300 hours per year (and can be even higher if they are part of a military exercise), it seems there is little annual cost difference between a Blue Angel pilot or other Naval Fighter Pilots.

 

[Always in His Presence]

The nerve for the man to plan to be born on the same day as the Army!

I tell ya! That is ego!

 

[wing2000]

Either you guys hold regular parades and get good at it, or you stop. There's really no middle ground that doesn't embarass you.

There is only one guy who wants a military parade for his birthday.....and I'm sure that guy was not happy with the US Army's failure to meet China or Belarus marching standards.

 

[Always in His Presence]

Either you guys hold regular parades and get good at it, or you stop. There's really no middle ground that doesn't embarass you.

Is that why you stopped?

 

[bèlla]

@wing2000, I just heard about this. ;-)

Trump Mobile announced by partners, Eric and Donald Trump Jr.; T1 phone coming, too​

 

[wing2000]

@wing2000, I just heard about this. ;-)

Trump Mobile announced by partners, Eric and Donald Trump Jr.; T1 phone coming, too​

LOL. Lame, low energy presentation. The Trump boys need to brush up on their presentation skills.

 

[iluvatar5150]

I think a question about the Blue Angels, what would the cost be if they were just normal Naval Aviators? We know current fighter aircraft often cost $70 thousand, just in operating costs and, once maintenance and other ongoing costs are factored in, it is up to about $1 million for 3 hours of flight time. With the average combat pilot flying between 180-300 hours per year (and can be even higher if they are part of a military exercise), it seems there is little annual cost difference between a Blue Angel pilot or other Naval Fighter Pilots.

The same could be said of all the folks assigned to work the parade. Sure, there are a bunch of one-time costs associated with staging a parade, but salaries are likely to be pretty static and operating costs for the vehicles are probably no worse than driving them around the range shooting at things.

If anything, the Blue Angels are a bigger cost (ignoring whatever value they generate for recruiting and marketing). Let's say that, including pilots and support staff, there are 100 people assigned to the Blue Angels. For most of them, working for the BA is a full-time job, so those folks can't be doing other jobs for the Navy. If you got rid of the BA, you could cut Navy personnel roles by 100 and see no impact elsewhere in the service.

OTOH, the soldiers marching in the parade were only on-site for a few days. They're already back at their regular jobs by now.

 

[Aldebaran]

Multiple airshows per year on various dates is clearly not an anniversary celebration. This is not similar.

It's similar in that it's the military, meant to highlight a military service, meant to be seen by the public, and is a way to let the taxpayers know some of what they are paying for and what capabilities our military has. Listen to the announcer at a Blue Angels airshow and you'll notice how he's always highlighting the pilots' capabilities and training, and what the aircraft can do. It's not just entertainment, but informative.

 

[Hans Blaster]

The nerve for the man to plan to be born on the same day as the Army!

I tell ya! That is ego!

If only he'd had the decency not to be born.

 

[civilwarbuff]

Yes. Encounters, not entries. If the border patrol turns you right back around, you haven't entered.

They have no authority to turn anyone around that is not on US soil....so yes, they have entered if they are ordered to go back. You should re-read you posts BEFORE posting cuz you are just digging your hole deeper and deeper.

 

[Aldebaran]

I think a question about the Blue Angels, what would the cost be if they were just normal Naval Aviators? We know current fighter aircraft often cost $70 thousand, just in operating costs and, once maintenance and other ongoing costs are factored in, it is up to about $1 million for 3 hours of flight time. With the average combat pilot flying between 180-300 hours per year (and can be even higher if they are part of a military exercise), it seems there is little annual cost difference between a Blue Angel pilot or other Naval Fighter Pilots.

The Blue Angel pilots actually are normal Naval Aviators. From what I've heard from the announcers during the shows, the skills shown by the Blue Angels are skills that all of the pilots in the Navy are required to be able to do. The blue Angel pilots are simply there to show the public what those skills are.

 

[civilwarbuff]

It's similar in that it's the military, meant to highlight a military service, meant to be seen by the public, and is a way to let the taxpayers know some of what they are paying for and what capabilities our military has. Listen to the announcer at a Blue Angels airshow and you'll notice how he's always highlighting the pilots' capabilities and training, and what the aircraft can do. It's not just entertainment, but informative.

Lets see, estimated 250 million for the parade (which should include everything necessary) and roughly 350 million people in the US so that comes to what?......About $ 0.72/person.....not a bad price. I'll kick in 6 bits for the parade.

 

[bèlla]

LOL. Lame, low energy presentation. The Trump boys need to brush up on their presentation skills.

Don’t focus on the presentation. Add up the money. If you track the things they’ve undertaken since he returned and look at the prospective earnings you’ll see their angle. Everything he does is for the furtherance of his family. He won’t be around to enjoy most of it but they’re well fixed.

The executive club membership has a waiting list. And there’s a name on the list that should have caught your attention. The Winklevoss twins are the ones who sued Zuck over Facebook. Now they’re billionaires in their own right thanks to cryptocurrency.

~bella

 

[Postvieww]

Attendance at no King events all across the United States was 5 million, the largest number of protesters in 60 years.

The sad part of that is that there are that many people falling for the liberal propaganda about Trump being a king. Today I heard an audio clip of a senior citizen lady crying and worrying about Trump and asking why that many people could vote for that man. The question should be who is that woman listening to that has so confused her with lies that she is this distraught.

 

[RDKirk]

ilitary, meant to

The Blue Angel pilots actually are normal Naval Aviators. From what I've heard from the announcers during the shows, the skills shown by the Blue Angels are skills that all of the pilots in the Navy are required to be able to do. The blue Angel pilots are simply there to show the public what those skills are.

The Blue Angel's unit (as well as the Air Force Thunderbirds unit) is also an operational military squadron. They can load weapons on those planes and carry out missions.

 

[RDKirk]

Did anyone else notice active duty Army platoons marching out of step? Some are speculating it was a form of protest. Or are marching skills no longer required in today's army?

(in 1984, platoons march better than that by the 5th day of boot camp...if not sooner. )

I finally last night watched a video of the entire parade.

It was fine...about what knowledgeable people would realistically expect.

The marching bands and special expositionary units were top notch, as should be expected. The formations of soldiers in historical uniforms probably got a lot more practice than usual, so they were nearly as good as the special units.

They also threw in some formations of ordinary troops to fill out the parade. Here's the thing: Ordinary troops do almost no marching after initial training. I can't recall ever marching in 26 years after my accessionary technical school. Maybe once. We'll get called out into static formations fairly regularly for ceremonies, but actually marching down a street for two or three miles at the position of attention...extremely rare for the average troop.

Marching well--staying in step, moving smoothly without head-bobbing--is a skill that takes practice. I watched the Gulf War parade first-hand, and that was a lot more sloppy. But those were troops who had been brought right out the desert.

A soldier won't use sloppy marching as a means of protest. First, from the troop's point of view, it's not for the president it's for the Army, it's for the unit. It's for their fellow soldiers. Being sloppy doesn't make the president look bad, it makes the unit look bad.

 

[SimplyMe]

The same could be said of all the folks assigned to work the parade. Sure, there are a bunch of one-time costs associated with staging a parade, but salaries are likely to be pretty static and operating costs for the vehicles are probably no worse than driving them around the range shooting at things.

Yes, and no. Remember there is something like $16 million dedicated just to repairing the roads after the damage caused by the tanks.

If anything, the Blue Angels are a bigger cost (ignoring whatever value they generate for recruiting and marketing). Let's say that, including pilots and support staff, there are 100 people assigned to the Blue Angels. For most of them, working for the BA is a full-time job, so those folks can't be doing other jobs for the Navy. If you got rid of the BA, you could cut Navy personnel roles by 100 and see no impact elsewhere in the service.

OTOH, the soldiers marching in the parade were only on-site for a few days. They're already back at their regular jobs by now.

Yes, Blue Angels is, essentially, a "full time job." What you are missing, though, that job is not that much different than a typical pilot job -- the biggest difference being more training at close flying maneuvers (most of those maneuvers are something all military pilots train to do) that they feature in their air shows. The pilots are still Naval Aviators with the same skills -- with due to their Blue Angel training they are keeping current on. As was noted in a previous post by Aldebaran, their performance is them performing the various maneuvers military pilots are taught.

If needed, the Blue Angels can deploy to a combat job pretty much immediately, with any delay caused by the time it takes the 100 support staff (who are also doing essentially the same job as every other aircraft support team in the Navy) to repaint the planes. As such, they are not excess personnel but warriors performing a peacetime function that keeps them mission ready -- just to be part of the Blue Angels team (whether pilots or support staff) they have to be some of the very best in their job in the Navy.

 

[SimplyMe]

Did anyone else notice active duty Army platoons marching out of step? Some are speculating it was a form of protest. Or are marching skills no longer required in today's army?

(in 1984, platoons march better than that by the 5th day of boot camp...if not sooner. )

As an Air Force Veteran, I agree with RDKirk here. Yes, in boot camp you are marching daily -- and you march everywhere with trainers that are trying to always make you better, so criticizing anything you do wrong. Last I knew, you'll still march daily in most technical training after boot camp to and from classes.

Once you leave training and get a permanent duty assignment, you don't seriously march again. In my case, I can recall a couple of times I was required to attend something like a change of command ceremony -- you might march a block or so, though it seems like it was about as likely that you'd just line up in formation in your unit's spot, without marching.

When you haven't marched for years, since basic, you aren't going to look crisp and polished, particularly for more than a block or two.

 

[Always in His Presence]

If only he'd had the decency not to be born.

I don’t believe his parents were democrats that supported killing the child in the womb.

 

[wing2000]

They also threw in some formations of ordinary troops to fill out the parade. Here's the thing: Ordinary troops do almost no marching after initial training. I can't recall ever marching in 26 years after my accessionary technical school. Maybe once. We'll get called out into static formations fairly regularly for ceremonies, but actually marching down a street for two or three miles at the position of attention...extremely rare for the average troop.

Yes, that mirrors my experience. After boot camp, I never marched again in my 4 year term. However, I would have expected "ordinary troop" units would drill prior to a highly visible parade in D.C. Even better, next time, leave them at their duty stations.