Last month, sequester cuts grounded the Blue Angels and several other aerial demonstration squadrons. This will be the first time that the Blue Angels, Thunder-birds, and Golden Knights, will not fly over the graduations of Annapolis, the Air Force Academy, and West Point. Even though I am several months removed from the Air Force Academy, I can't help but to sympathize with senior cadets who have waited several long years to throw their hats and become officers as the screaming jets fly over. Emotions aside, this was an easy decision for our government's leadership to make. In fact, I used to go to school with a technician that worked on Thunderbirds, and one day during a thunderbird demonstration, she told me that the cost of fuel for a year was over $20 million dollars, and on average, $300,000 per show. It makes sense, the military is not recruiting as hard as has in the past few years, and their are few and fewer slots being aloud at the academies. The situation is unfortunate but hopefully the grounding will only be temporary and we will see these marvels fly once again someday soon!
