These aren’t commercial flights. These are people flying C-17s, C-130s and the like back and forth between the U.S. and Europe and the Middle East. So that part doesn’t add up here.
Bingo! There’s definitely something Josh’s folks should ask about… How do they know what welcome packet level to give to whom (let alone that treatment shouldn’t be varying between the servicemembers, that’s just bullshit).
They’re not necessarily “combat veterans” like you’re thinking. Just that they served in a combat theater. Since these are supply planes, most of their experience would have been shuttling supplies into and out of places like Kabul or Baghdad or whatever. Not a knock on them-- we’ve had losses and planes under fire taking off and landing, but these aren’t fighter-jet pilots.
And lots of the supply side is in the National Guard and Reserves, allows them to call up crews for short periods to do these sorts of runs.
You know if I were a regular non officer I might consider a packet of scones the better prize.
Note that we are talking about “officers” here, and not regular “airmen”. While officers can afford to pay extra for government subsidized luxury at a place like Turnberry, airmen can not. The per diem that airmen get for meals is not enough to eat at Turnberry, and when drink prices at that bar start at $10…
That being said, I’ve been tracking the money being spent on fuel at the Glasgow Prestwick airport. each day, more purchases are added to the database, and we’re now up to $17.8 million dollars spent in less than 21 months on a three year contract with a maximum value of just over $5 million.
The contract was supposed to be for contingency fuelling purchases (and the occasional joint exercises where GPA would play a role). Andmilitary regulations require that crews only use sites like GPA when there is no military option available…
Whenever possible, use military installations fuel resources and related services due to
significant cost savings.
Those cost savings don’t just include the cost of fuel, however. Most military installations provide on-base access to housing and meals (and other services) for transient air crews. Its not just a question of whether Turnberry is the cheapest hotel near GPA — its spending any money on any hotel that should be the issue here.
"Reports of the honor "
Perhaps you are being sarcastic Ms Lafond - but I’d stay away from using their language, it just positions it as an honor in the public mind eventually - like the ‘death tax’.
Agreed! Even if there was no trump connection, this situation reeks to high heaven. Military personnel are supposed to stay at military housing (if available) and, if not, then the lowest price lodging in proximity to the airport. Even if the trump property is within per-diem, the distance from the airport makes the deal suspect.
Are we looking at the tip of an iceberg - the Air Force’s own “Fat Leonard” scandal? Are there USAF officers taking kick-backs here (and possibly elsewhere) in exchange for bringing military business to the area?
its not “combat medals”, its “tour of duty” medals. I don’t know where TPM got the "high-ranking Air Force officers who have earned medals for achievements in combat " but it wasn’t from the Politico article cited as its source. (e.g. the word “combat” does not appear in the Politico piece at all).
The article does make a distinction between “high ranking officers” and “rank and file members”. That is a problematic distinction, insofar as all pilots are officers.
Implied in the piece is the idea that we are talking about air crews returning at the end of a tour. In most such cases, these crews would travel as part of a deployed unit – so its entirely possible that it is just the unit commanders (and not ‘rank and file’ pilots) that get the VIP treatment.
I wouldn’t be surprised. But “kickbacks” might not be quite the right word, because it implies that the bookings would not have occurred otherwise. I suspect that its more like “gifts” – air force personnel suddenly start using GPA to please the boss, and the local contractor (who is getting kickbacks from the hotel) sends along a “consideration” in thanks for the patronage. 
We’re probably not going to get to the bottom of this before the end of Trump’s term, because its going to require investigators with access to all sorts of detailed information to determine how many GPA visits were mandated (not merely “justified”) by circumstances. Were Ramstein in Germany and Dota in Spain and Lakenheath (or other british locations where the US has its own facilities) full up, or experiencing bad weather (and GPA wasn’t?).
All service members, DOD contractors, and other civil service members are all required to follow the same guidelines when it comes to gifts or in-kind contributions in regards to laws governing fraud, waste, and abuse.
https://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=21205
Definitely something an IG within the AF should be required to inviestigate.
It is just disgusting to think that a sitting US president would be grifting off the US taxpayer right in front of our eyes, and less than half of this country supports such graft.
I heard active military and veterans can stay for free with their families up to 3 days at any Trump hotel or resort. Everyone needs to congratulate President Trump on this magnanimous new policy that proves he really, truly respects those who serve the country.
Pass the word. 
Do they earn discounts based on their kill counts?
Love it. I will have to pass this on. You are brilliant.
only for Muslims and Mexicans
high-ranking Air Force officers who have earned medals for achievements in combat
Says a lot right there…elitism if nothing else.
Meanwhile, Trump is having a secrret funbdraiser in Silicon Valley.
Three years ago, an uproar among company employees forced the chief executive of Intel Corp. at the time to cancel an event for candidate Donald Trump at his Atherton, Calif., home hours after the plan became public. On Tuesday, the president is set to return to the Bay Area for the first time since his election—and no one will say who is hosting him.
Campaign aides and advisers cited security and privacy concerns and noted violence that arose from protests during Mr. Trump’s previous trips to the area as they declined through Monday evening to disclose the host of the fundraiser the president will attend.
Donors invited to the event—whose tickets cost up to $100,000 per couple—weren’t told in advance where the fundraiser is or who is hosting it. Instead, they were told to arrive at a parking place in Palo Alto, from which they will be transported to the event, people familiar with the matter said.
My issue would be that the preferential treatment is selectively applied, from the article enlisted are invisible and would not matter what medals they had been awarded.
As an officer in Vietnam, I unfortunately saw far more of my peers walking around with medals that they awarded themselves. I lost quite a bit of respect for leadership from Westmoreland on down. What did it for me was not so much those medals they did not deserve but the refusal to lead.
Pence prefers the “Christian Warrior” pin. You get your choice of an image of Jesus with a firearm, or a pilgrim smacking a native over the head with the New Testament.
You assume this isn’t a ploy to pay off friends of the White House with free golf paid for by the taxpayer?
The orange mess is also attending a “location unknown” event in San Diego this week. A fine statement about the American democracy these examples provide, right?
