No Pics, No Perks, and an F-16 a Long Way From Home...

The New York Post is reporting that the $328,835 photo op organized by the White House that terrified New Yorkers will not be released. Apparently an Administration willing to release classified interrogation photos that will be used for terrorist recruiting and inciting attacks against deployed soldiers can't bring itself to release photos of a public event for fear of causing President Obama some indirect personal embarrassment.

Ther is some good news, however, about the flight. Lt Col Tadd Sholtis, of the Air Force Office of Public Affairs, confirmed via email this morning that "the flight in question occurred as part of a scheduled training mission, so there were no passengers on board." Some of my fellow bloggers had wondered if perhaps President Obama's campaign contributors might have been about the VC-25A's strafing of Manhattan, but that was apparently not the case.

As for the F-16 that accompanied the VC-25-A, some people have noticed that the bright-red-tailed plane that accompanied the 747 as it banked above New York Harbor looked very much like the markings of the famed Tuskegee Airmen.

The plane in that photo certainly resembles the F-16s of the 100th Fighter Squadron attached to the 187th Alabama Air National Guard, which carry those distinctive colors as a tribute to the famed Tuskegee Airmen.

It is a long haul from Alabama to Washington to New York and back again, and there are other Regular Air Force units far closer to both DC and New York that could have flown escort for the President's plane if escort was their actual duty. Perhaps the plane from the 160th—if that is indeed what it was—was there as part of the photo op. Captain Cambarella, PAO of the of the 187th has so far declined a request for comment.

If the Alabama ANG fighter did participate, refueling fuel costs alone would seem to warrant nudging the $328,835 cost of the White House debacle further upward.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 12:42 PM

Comments

1 There's a reason they won't release the photos: there weren't any. The F-15s were not positioned for photos, and the need to "update" the AF1 photos makes no sense.

Bottom line: this was a joy-ride. Someone close to Obama (? his daughters ?) wanted a close-up look at NYC and the Statue of Liberty -- hence the secrecy. The leak that Obama is "furious" is nothing but a cover.

You will never see photos because there were none. You will never know who was on the plane because you'd know who they were, and whose idea it was...

Just my theory.

Posted by: Dr Bob at May 05, 2009 01:01 PM (IEuhZ)

2 100th Fighter Squadron. The 160th was replaced by the 100th in the 187th. Still does the red tail though.

Posted by: Spade at May 05, 2009 11:44 PM (1y4zJ)

3 Dr. Bob makes a good point- where was the supposed photo platform? Were they to be shots from a ground station, or more likely for something like this, from an aerial platform? If it was supposed to be from an aerial platform, what and where was it? Don't recall any mention or sight in the photos or videos of any aircraft besides the 747 and F-16.

Posted by: douglas at May 06, 2009 01:34 AM (20QoQ)

4 Of course they used an aircraft in the markings of the first blacks-only unit. Anything for the greater glory of black people...
Cost doesn't matter, only propaganda value for black supremacism.

This must indeed have come directly from the president, even if he wasn't on board.

Posted by: J.T. Wenting at May 06, 2009 03:28 PM (hrLyN)

5 What we need to see now is someone with more talent than I in these matters (and there are oh so many) just do an equivalent picture of Air Force One over the Statue of Liberty... in Photoshop.

Then palec them side by side and tell us exactly how much it cost for the software, and the labor to produce it. ($150 bucks, IF that?)

Posted by: Andrew X at May 08, 2009 10:49 PM (E46Ts)

6 You guys have stumbled upon the key to understanding the Air Farce One story.

George Lucas is filming a movie called "Red Tails" starring Cuba Gooding Jr, about the Tuskegee Airmen in WW2.

This is no coincidence. I think Air Force One was used as a movie prop.

Posted by: Travis McGee at May 09, 2009 08:35 AM (ijPJK)






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