The End Of The USAF Thunderbirds? Reid At Fault



From the LVRJ: With fiscal cliff budget cuts looming a few weeks away, Air Force leaders said Thursday they will probably cancel upcoming Red Flag air combat training exercises at Nellis Air Force Base and ground the Thunderbirds demonstration team if Congress and the White House don't agree on a solution to the nation's $16 trillion debt.
"I don't know that I would say it would make Nellis ground zero but we have talked about whether Red Flag would be canceled or curtailed," Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Larry Spencer said in a news conference call from the Pentagon about the potential effects of automatic budget cuts.
Under those mandatory reductions, known as sequestration, Spencer said that like the Navy's contingency plan for grounding the Blue Angels demonstration team, "we would discontinue the Thunderbirds probably around 1 April."
"I wouldn't want to single out Nellis, but the weapons school (and) a lot of those things that happen at Nellis will be heavily affected by this," he said.
Hanging in the balance is $200 million in civilian support and services contracts....
They also said belt-tightening at stateside bases and commands could curtail advance training programs, affect contracts with private companies, and hurt the Air Force modernization program including the centerpiece, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The F-35, also known as the Lightning II, is designed to replace aging F-16 fighter jets and A-10 attack jets.
"The cuts under sequestration are going to be devastating," Morin said, adding, "We will see damage to programs like the KC-46 refueling tanker and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter."
The Air Force might have to reopen bids on those contracts and that would increase procurement costs and cause delays in delivery of the aircraft.
Air Force spokeswoman Megan Schafer said after the news conference that a Red Flag exercise in March at Nellis would go off as planned....
Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., who is starting his third year as a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said the comments by Air Force leaders "is disappointing news but not surprising."
He said canceling Red Flag exercises would have trickle-down effects on Las Vegas.
"It does have an economic impact on our community," Heck said. "It's not just a great training opportunity for our pilots but an international training opportunity.
"When you bring in all those foreign participants, they spend money in the community and when they go home they want to bring their families back," he said.
With only seven working days left before automatic cuts kick in, Heck said he is "gravely concerned about coming up with a long-term solution but also concerned about coming up with a short-term delay."
He noted that while the House has passed two different bills to replace the sequester, the Senate "has not offered anything." http://www.lvrj.com/news/red-flag-thunderbirds-at-nellis-targeted-for-grounding-190244941.html
Of course, why is anybody surprised that when a bad thing happens in Nevada, Senile/Liar/Coward Harry Reid is behind it?
The Senate is refusing to act on the budget cuts, many that are legitimate, but some are not.  And who is the leader of the Senate?  Why, it's Nevada's and Washington D.C.'s Coward/Senile/Liar/Pathetic Harry Reid.
If something bad happens in Nevada, you can bet that Reid is involved somehow. 
Why does Senile/Coward/Pathetic/Liar Harry Reid hate Nevada so much?