Tyndall sustains 'direct hit,' 'extensive damage' from hurricane

[nitpicker]

https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2018/10/11/tyndall-sustains-direct-hit-extensive-damage-from-hurricane/

Tyndall sustains ‘direct hit,’ ‘extensive damage’ from hurricane

By: Stephen Losey    1 day ago

Hurricane Michael slammed into Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida as a Category 4 storm on Wednesday, causing extensive damage and leaving the base closed until further notice.

Tyndall said in a release Wednesday evening that the “catastrophic” storm delivered a direct hit to the base, bringing down trees and power lines, ripping roofs off buildings and causing significant structural damage. Michael’s winds topped 150 miles per hour. Tyndall is near Panama City, Florida, which bore the brunt of the storm. No injuries have so far been reported, the base said, but the condition of Tyndall’s runway is not yet known.

Air Force spokeswoman Erika Yepsen said in an email Thursday afternoon that Tyndall currently has no power, water or sewer service. The Air Force is working on aerial surveillance of Tyndall to assess the damage, clearing a route to the base, and providing security, potable water, latrines and communication equipment.

Yepsen said all personnel assigned to ride out the storm at Tyndall are accounted for and uninjured. But other airman who are assigned to Tyndall should not plan to return at this time, she said.

The Air Force also said in another email that nearly every home at Tyndall has roof damage, and recovery teams found “widespread catastrophic damage” as it conducted initial assessments of the base and portions of base housing.

Tyndall’s mandatory evacuation evacuation order, which was declared Monday, remains in effect.
(snip)

[TomVilmer]

1. Some good came out of it...

... since maybe as many as ten F-22 fighter jets were damaged:
Sitting in the ruined airplane hangars of Tyndall Air Force Base may be some of the Air Force’s most advanced and most expensive stealth fighter jets, which cost a dizzying $339 million each.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/11/us/air-force-hurricane-michael-damage.html

[Deb]

2. How is that good?

[BumRushDaShow]

3. Those were undergoing maintenance/repair

The operational ones were flown out this past Monday.

Some tweets about it and video -

Link to tweet

TEXT
luis martinez
✔
@LMartinezABC

New ground level video showing the damage to the hangars at Tyndall https://www.dvidshub.net/video/632392/tyndall-damage#.W8DqzColepY.twitter …
2:41 PM - Oct 12, 2018

Link to tweet

TEXT
luis martinez
‏Verified account @LMartinezABC

FYI: Most of the F-22s at Tyndall were evacuated to Wright Patterson AFB in Ohio, but some undergoing maintenance remained behind in hangars. Some may have been damaged. The planes with orange painted tips in those damaged hangars are old planes used as drones, not F-22s.
12:13 PM - 12 Oct 2018

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. How is a burden to the taxpayer any good? Alternatively, how is diverting tax money any good?

[TomVilmer]

6. Building these fighter planes was the original burden to the taxpayers...

... rebuilding them would just be yet another straw. Not to rebuild could be a good start to ease the burden.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

7. It would be stupid for them to abandon huge investments for sake of a much smaller repair cost. . nt

[soryang]

8. Sunk costs are no costs

Defense economics 101

Lawrence Korb.

Only future costs matter. Sunk costs are irrelevant in making budget policy choices.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

9. Sure, but the planes are capital assets. Abandoning an asset is rarely wise

Asset evaluation is part of budgeting.

A house owner does not necessarily abandon a house if the back deck falls off.

Budgeting 101.

[soryang]

10. What the ultimate decision is remains to be seen.

In light of Mattis recent statement about desired operational readiness rates for aircraft, I presume that legitimate cost analysis won't even be followed.

But as a matter of fact, the principle you cited is just wrong. It is only the future costs that matter. It may in fact be cheaper to acquire replacement aircraft then repair the damaged ones. The airframes may turn out to be more valuable as "hangar queens" cannibalized for parts.

But I assume that a government department that can't even audit itself or accurately project costs is likely to make the most expensive decisions rather than the most efficient.

[BumRushDaShow]

4. Chaser video from near the entrance to Tyndall Base

(Near the end, at 0:53, they briefly flip the camera around so you can see where they are in relation to a portion of the base and one building is visible)