The Navy says the cost to bring the formation of four planes, plus a backup, to North Texas was over $450,000, based on the operational cost of the F-18 aircraft and the number of hours the pilots will fly. They came from Virginia Beach because the military decided it was better to take them from across the country rather than use the squadron of F-18 fighters at the Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth, less than 20 miles from the stadium.
The Navy insists that it is good for public relations . . . for the public to see that it is willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time of economic stress to fly over a closed domed stadium.
It works for me. I have completed the DD 2253 (“Request for Military Aerial Support”) form below for my own military flyover for my annual Turley Thanksgiving Turkey Bowl with children in the neighborhood. This Redskins-Bears game is a public event with considerable following.
Unlike the Super Bowl, the Turley Turkey bowl is held in an open field ideal for our flyover.
The Turley Turkey Bowl organization released the following statement:
We are delighted by the opportunity to have a flyover added our annual game watched by dozens across this suburb. While we have a squadron of F-18s located less than a mile away at Langley, we would prefer planes from Europe to perform the flyover to capture the international spirit of this event.
Note to readers: following this blog entry, the “Turley Turkey Bowl” will be trademarked. However, you may continue to refer to it as the “Big Game in McLean” or simply “The Event Formerly Known As The Turley Turkey Bowl.”
Here is our form: DD2535-Aviation
Source: KHOU.
Jonathan Turley