Do you call that a UOR? This is a UOR...

[Two's in]

The next time you wonder whether CAS is spending taxpayer's money wisely, you might want to read this. Apparently some very, very Senior USAF bods thought that having a C-17 strapped to their butts for 12 hours was way beneath them, so they came up with this stunning plan.

See, it starts with allowing duty claims for Gay rights parades and next thing you know we're all about coordinating colours and curtains.

The Air Force's top leadership sought for three years to spend counterterrorism funds on "comfort capsules" to be installed on military planes that ferry senior officers and civilian leaders around the world, with at least four top generals involved in design details such as the color of the capsules' carpet and leather chairs, according to internal e-mails and budget documents.


One request was that the color of the leather for the seats and seat belts in the mobile pallets be changed from brown to Air Force blue and that seat pockets be added; another was that the color of the table's wood be darkened. Changing the seat color and pockets alone was estimated in a March 12 internal document to cost at least $68,240.


washingtonpost.com (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/17/AR2008071703161.html)

[VinRouge]

Its a pallet that goes on the A/C. I think its more than just leather seats though.

[BEagle]

Well, that's interesting.... Whilst it's a bit daft to expect the C-17A to have passenger seating appropriate for anything more than paratroop insertion, the same should not be assumed of forthcoming AT/AAR aircraft.

The Airbus KC-45A has normal airline seats, loos, galleys and windows. Whereas the woefully inferior Boeing KC-767A has pretty basic 'Rendition Class' seating. Austere seats, minimal 'comfort' facilities - and it doesn't even have cabin windows.

I wonder whether these 'very, very senior USAF bods' are aware of quite how cr@p the KC-767A would be in the passenger role?

[VinRouge]

Bling Bling!
pogo.org POGO Letter to DoD Secretary Robert Gates regarding wasteful spending on extravagant “Senior Leader In-Transit Comfort Capsules” 07/17/2008 Project On Government Oversight (http://www.pogo.org/p/defense/dl-080717-gates.html)

http://bp0.blogger.com/_7icjEBgTE3Y/SID9qXrp37I/AAAAAAAAAEE/iue2KxGd3J8/s320/VIP+capsules.jpg


Could do with one of these on the J!!!

Some of the "specs"


“The wall mounted flat screen/flat panel monitor must have a diagonal measurement of at least 37 inches”;
“A full length mirror”;
“Aesthetically pleasing wall-to-wall carpeting”;
“Aesthetically pleasing wall treatments/coverings”;
“Aesthetically pleasing ceiling treatments/coverings”;
“Internal illumination level will automatically adjust to ambient lighting levels”;
“A single remote control unit which controls operation and all functions of the video playback devices as well as the wall mounted flat screen/flat panel monitor”; [Appendix E (http://pogoarchives.org/m/ns/slicc/appendix-e.pdf)]

To be fair, the quoted price is fairly reasonable for what they are getting.

[Two's in]

Didn't Lyneham put some sort of Portakabin type arrangement in the back of C-130 to take Maggie to the Falkands before MPA was finished just after the war? Or did they just put a double curtain around the bog?

[PICKS135]

Or did they just put a double curtain around the bog?

Thought Maggie peed standing up :p:p:p

[PTR 175]

Badly worded 'spec' they deserve everything that they get !!