Veterans:‘Pentagon Neglecting National Security’

By Diana Lucio Reporter
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Former servicemen are speaking out and calling the Pentagon's decision to cancel the Tanker competition a big mistake. Veterans:‘Pentagon Neglecting National Security’
Published: Wed, September 10, 2008 - 9:08 pm Last Updated: Wed, September 10, 2008 - 9:28 pm
Diana Lucio
Diana Lucio
Veterans are speaking out against the Pentagon's decision to cancel the Air Force Tanker deal.
News Five spoke with two former Army servicemen who say another delay to rebuild the Air Force refueling tanker is a threat to our national security.
Jim Eubanks says while the Pentagon is too busy playing politics, the aging tanker could end up posing problems for the military. "If something happens and one of these planes comes down or can't make it up there because of mechanical difficulties we're not only going to lose the plane that carried the fuel, we're gonna lose the plane that needed the fuel to keep flying,"Said Eubanks.
Harry Smith agrees that a plan to rebuild the tanker is long overdue and could mean another tragedy like September 11th if the outdated tanker is kept in the air. "If one of these refueling tankers, one flies over one of our metropolitan areas, has problems, crashes, when it comes down and hits a metropolitan area it puts lives in jeopardy on the ground, plus the lives of the crew men on board,"Said Smith.


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I think a lot of people don’t like change,and I’m that way on a lot of things even when it might be to the better. There are a lot of people that feel familiar and comfortable with the old Boeing planes and are fighting a change like people do. We’ve got a new generation of pilots and support personnel coming up that probably will feel the same way about the KC45 tankers if they get the contract and they get use to it and a new aircraft comes along. If Boeing had an aircraft like the KC45 flying and were going to assemble them in mobile then I would be in favor of them. But they don’t have one this size and are not going to assemble any here so for me N/G EADS is a no contest for me. In the creation of new jobs for the American worker,from the start to the end of the contract, the N/G EADS team is far ahead. Boeing will try to back log these on their already over taxed existing production lines. If you look at all the pluses for the KC45 and the area,it’s a no brain-er for me.

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claycitymadness, no do not do that, i really appreciate your input. i just know boeing stuck it to our airforce. its really sad.

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r.p okay you win, i will start shoving my opinion where you told me to in an earlier post. i

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no it is the choice between the model t and the

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/504283/the_most_expensive_car_in_the_world/

for the same price.

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r/p: its like a choice between ford and puegot.the original specs called for something like the 767, not the 320, which will require bigger runways and infrastructure to support and will be limite in the airfields it will use, otherwise boeing would have done thier 747. we also fail to mention the fleet of kc10s we have still on duty. my real regret is that we will not asemble the tanker in mobile if it is boeing, who is still the largest aerospace employer in alabama. boeing also owns lockheed, mc/douglas and all thier related technologies for combination refeuling, nato and the navy use different receptacles than the airforce does. anyway i agree to disagree without attacking or saying something smart. it set me off with bay haas screaming politics and bringing up brookley closing again, which i believe is way off base. brookley was going to close no matter who won the election in 64, it was excess to requirements. he has done a great job of reusing the facilities there.last post.

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claycitymadness, you see it was about competition. boeings future tanker and i repeat future tanker has never been built. its about what is best for our airforce. look at it this way we have china and north korea to the west, we have chavez to the south. we have iran to the east and russia to the north. now we are playing politics with our military. we are down sizing our military, they are building. so you pick which one of those countries you want to fly that boeing frankentanker for. the eads tanker is far superior to boeing. let our enemies fly it while we stick to a frankentanker.

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rosepetal, okay i like boeing. i think they make a superior product and have been the leading innovators i the aerospace industry. i enjoyed flying a boeing product for XX plus years. i had the chance to transition to the bi which would have been a blast to fly but stayed with the buff even as the mission changed from penetration bomber to standoff missle delivery system. i would rather see the smaller 767 as a fueler. the only down side for me is they are not going to be assembeled here. i just hate it when people scream politics, like Mr. Haas talking about why they closed brookley, its been a rumor for 40 years but its no truer today than it was then. when the last 135 is grounded we will have gotten 60 years of use out of it, a bargain by anyones standards and if we get that long after the next one it too will be a deal. the 135 is really not that outdated, i was on one a few months ago and got to ride up front, its still a great plane. warships in georgia, why do we provoke russia

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I can only see one way N/G EADS stands a good chance to get the contract based on merits and that is for the president to remove secretary Gates and a few people over the Air Force before he leaves office and that is unlikely since he was mainly responsible for them being there. The kc135 was a good aircraft for it’s time but it has been out dated. The KC45 has a lot more load capability and advanced electronics. Boeing no doubt could produce a comparable aircraft but it would take at least twice at long to design and trouble shoot and then to get in the waiting line at Boeing behind all the other aircraft that are over due. N/G EADS already has one in the air and ready for inspection. Unless someone is blind how could you not see the obvious choice if time is of any importance at all. This is politics down and dirty and I hope our representatives are up to it, lead the charge or step down and let someone else lead.

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claycitymadness just keep pushing boeing, they are so far behind the times. while you are pushing your boeing. russia is knocking at our door with.

2 Russian Blackjack Bombers Land in Venezuela

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and they do perform the mission every day 24/7 in all weather, the mission rate is like 90% better than it was during the cold war when it was in the 70th per centile

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