Cost Of A Date…When Mr. & Mrs. Joker Did The Town
Sep 9, 2009 16 Comments ›› Erik Wong
From a former Air Force Colonel….
Subject: The Date
First, let me say that I’ve moved three presidents up to now and I’ve
seen incredible waste. But, the “new†guy really takes the cake. I don’t have an issue with the President promising his wife dinner and a show or that he even takes his wife out.
But, when I saw the news say that the date cost $24,000, here’s what you DON’T know.
Three days before “dinner†a C-17 flew Marines and the helicopter maintenance equipment to JFK Airport .
The day before “dinner†I flew the USSS and the motorcade to JFK Airport
cid:part2.01000703.06080500@pacbell.net
Our crew of 5 spent two days and nights at the Hilton in Times Square . My hotel bill: $621.66 plus $64 a day in per diem. The USSS guys were at a different Hilton in NYC, so figure that cost another $14,000 (or so) plus per diem. The Marines had to have cost as much and were there four days, so figure another $55,000 plus per diem (for 44 Marines).
We were supposed to fly the motorcade back and go home, but the Air
Force was so short of C-17’s that we were re-tasked to take the motorcade back, return to JFK and take the helicopter back to Quantico .
When we got back to JFK, while the pilot was turning the plane around
to park, he noticed a rotor blade sticking out of the hangar where the
helicopter was parked and informed me that either it wasn’t ready to
transport or it was flying home. After shutting down I walked over to the hangar and to my surprise I find FIVE helicopters, not ONE.
We’re obviously not transporting five big helicopters. I went and
talked to the Marines guarding the “fleet†and found that they were flying all five helicopters home and we were only transporting the Marines and the maintenance equipment. After talking to the Marine(s) in charge, I was told that the White House requested FIVE helicopters. The Marines told me that they spent all morning trying to figure out how much it cost them to come and said they figured it cost them $140,000 to stay there (I don’t know where they came up with that)and the trip’s total had to be about $1,000,000.
We heard that the President didn’t use Air Force One (the 747) so I
asked if he came in on one of the 757’s. I was told that he came in on
THREE Air Force Lear jets.
So, date night consisted of:
2 C-17’s flying three missions, 3 Lear jets, 5 Helicopters,
Presidential Motorcade, 44 Marines, more than 20 USSS personnel on our plane. Who knows what it cost the NYPD and NY Port Authority (at the airport) in overtime.
The se are the same people that chastised the automobile CEO’s for
using their aircraft. It further proves that the media only use the facts
that make the President look good and hide any facts that will detract
from his persona..
Is this the ‘change’ we expected?
Talk with friends and those who are not blinded by charisma. Many
folks I know who voted for Obama are very disappointed and sorry they did so.
The Emperor’s clothes on a grand scale. “Transparency� Remember, 2010 is just around the corner. All we have to do is survive long enough.
