I think it would make sense to relocate everything the Eglin AFB and close Tyndall. I am not a big fan of base closures but they are already very close to each other and it would cost a fortune to rebuild the base.
Saw photos of the base after.....lots of destruction to be sure. Looked like a bad tornado went through the place.
It should take them no longer than a week to get things back to order...What about a bombing of an airfield during a war? Building that are wacked...put up tents or something....
I believe in group punishment
Tyndall should be closed.
and those involved
should be tossed out
“But the official did not known how many planes were at Tyndall during the Category 4 storm.”
If no one kept a record, a lot of folks in the chain of command need to be sacked.
The major problem is that no one thought to make concrete hurricane shelters or hangers for the planes. See the Drive-the war zone for more indepth
I was through there on Saturday, and at first my knee jerk reaction was to simply move to join up with Elgin AFB. Then I thought about 2 things;
1) Military bases are huge anchors in local economies
2) Redundancy. It was easier for the Japanese to wipe out our pacific fleet att Pearl Harbor when assets were lumped together.
Back in the day, aircraft would be flown to other bases to avoid any possible loss due to storm damage. I talking about F4 Phantoms. The base commander decided it was ok to let F35 aircraft remain??? Geez, tens of millions for an aircraft that still is working out the kinks!!!!!
I saw an interview with Senator Nelson yesterday at Tyndall.
He said the base will be rebuilt. It is too important not to be. They already have the runways operational.
Take five generators, ice and gas to family in SW GA yesterday in hardest hit areas. Hard to describe damage and impact on individuals. We counted over 900 power related work crews going down.
The 11 year old killed there called 911 when the house she was in with her grandmother was hit by a tree. After the storm farmers tried to clear way for emergency personnel but arrived to late. They were in a rural area and there were trees across the road every 20-30 feet that had to be cut and pushed aside.
The people there are tough though and dealing as best they can with the devastation.
People are not happy with FEMA not because of lack of assistance but their arrogance, they have convoys of 4-6 black SUV using blue lights moving people off roads as they pass, dressed like businesspeople and not even talking to locals. Not a good image.
When this happened at Homestead they ended up permanently closing the base, and left only an ANG contingent behind.
I’ve heard various reports of between 2 to 6 Raptors were left behind and may be total write offs.
Add to that figure the three other Raptors that have been damaged in the past six months in landing accidents. There have been four previous total hull losses. So out of 187 production aircraft, we’re down to 174.
The article is wrong. There haven’t been any QF-4’s at Tyndall since 2015 (they were transferred to Holloman AFB), and the last QF-4 flight was in 2016 with the last being officially retired in 2017.
The aircraft pictured in the wrecked hangar are the orange tailed QF-16 drones, and those white turboprops are MU-2 trainers.
But why on Earth would an Airforce base located right on the Gulf of Mexico that houses the priceless F-22 not have hardened shelters to house those Raptors that can not fly to escape storms due to mechanical issues?
But hey let’s make sure the golf courses are up to date.
When I pulled up the satellite photo of Michael making landfall and Tyndale was INSIDE the eye, I knew it was gonna be a mess, but, it still staggers the mind.
I’m no expert on the air force, but I do know those darned airplanes are VERY expensive - why the heck weren’t they flown out of there before the storm hit?
If it’s anything like Homsestead AFB, forgetaboutit!