Pentagon Creates Ebola Response Team

The Pentagon is training a 30-person medical response team designed to be deployed nationally in case anyone else in the country is diagnosed with Ebola.

“The team will consist of 20 critical care nurses, five doctors trained in infectious disease, and five trainers in infectious disease protocols,” said Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby.  He said the team was formed based on a request from the Department of Health and Human Services.

The team, which will be trained in Fort Sam Houston in Texas by the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, will help back up civilian doctors and won’t be deployed outside the United States.

“Identifying, training, and preparing forces in advance of potential requests ensures that we can respond quickly and is analogous to how we prepare [Department of Defense] personnel in advance of other potential civil support missions, such as hurricane relief and wildland firefighting,” Kirby said.

The Cost Of Flying The F-15

Recently, the pentagon decided to cut the 65th Aggressor Squadron, the United States Air Force F-15 unit that mimics enemy fighters like the Russian Su-27.  This squadron was used for training, playing the adversary role in dogfights.

The reason was the cost.  According to Time Magazine, the cost per flight-hour for some military jets is gigantic.  The F-15 costs roughly $41,921 per flight hour. (This includes fuel and maintenance costs.)

By comparison, the  F-16 costs $22,514.

Some European fighter jets like the SAAB JAS 39 Gripen have costs closer to that of the F-16.

The A-10 Warthog costs $17,716 per flight hour.  (It is also the subject of a budget battle at the Pentagon and may be cut to help fund the new F-35 Joint Strike fighter.)

Smaller drones like the Predator and Reaper drones cost $4000 or $5000 per flight-hour.

These costs do not include the costs of the bombs and ammunition.

http://nation.time.com/2013/04/02/costly-flight-hours/