Air Force Brass Get Luxury In-Flight Seats on Taxpayer's Dime

Posted by Liliana Segura, AlterNet at 3:00 PM on July 24, 2008.

This piece originally appeared in PEEK.

I know it's been a long war, with a lot of egregious waste and all, but perhaps you recall the one about KBR's embroidered towels, that sordid episode in which a KBR contractor was told by a higher up that, when ordering towels for U.S. soldiers in Iraq, he should be sure to get them with the company logo stitched on them, so that the troops would be sure to know which corporation provided them with terrycloth goodness in a war zone. Never mind that the bit of embroidery tripled or quadrupled the cost of the towels. "This is a cost-plus contract," the supervisor said. "Taxpayers pay for that."

Like KBR's empty trucks, the towels became a symbol of contractor fraud and the profit-driven abuse of the American people that, aside from the war itself, has become one of the major scandals of the Iraq invasion -- a "profound waste of taxpayers' money," in the words of Sen. Byron Dorgan.

Of course, those are war profiteers. They're in the business of being shameless and crass. But what happens when the waste is not about profit padding by mercenaries but, rather, about padding the derrieres of military commanders?

Well, this.

Last week, the Washington Post reported that top Air Force brass "sought for three years to spend counterterrorism funds on 'comfort capsules' to be installed on military planes that ferry senior officers and civilian leaders around the world, with at least four top generals involved in design details such as the color of the capsules' carpet and leather chairs, according to internal e-mails and budget documents."

"Production of the first capsule -- consisting of two sealed rooms that can fit into the fuselage of a large military aircraft -- has already begun."

So, what exactly is a "comfort capsule"? A glance at the design (helpfully posted alongside the article) reveals them to be pretty much what they sound like; sort of ultra-cozy VIP cubicles; what the average office workspace might look like, only airborne, with leather seats and flat screen TVs.

Also, "an Air Force document specified that the capsule's seats are to swivel such that 'the longitudinal axis of the seat is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft, regardless of where the capsules are facing." For there will be no air-borne nausea aboard military flights -- this is war, dammit! Air Force leaders must be able to "talk, work and rest comfortably in the air," according to Brigadier General Robert H. McMahon, one of the military men responsible for carrying out the comfort capsule project. From their inception, McMahon made it clear that the "comfort capsules" should be considered "world class" accommodations.

Explaining his instructions to subordinates, McMahon said he used the term "world class" "in just about everything I discuss. … That represents an attitude." He said he wanted to "create an environment that whoever was riding in that would be proud of," the government would be proud of and "the people of the United States" would be proud of.

Creating the capsules has not been without complication. Post-production, "one request was that the color of the leather for the seats and seat belts in the mobile pallets be changed from brown to Air Force blue and that seat pockets be added; another was that the color of the table's wood be darkened." The price tag for such changes? "At least $68,240."

Although there have been some cutbacks, the original estimated cost of the project hovered around $20 million. Which, for additional perspective, the Post helpfully points out, this "is nearly equivalent to what the Pentagon spends in about 20 minutes."

In truth, the unsavory impression the "comfort capsules" might create among U.S. taxpayers, or rank and file soldiers, for that matter, is not entirely lost on the Air Force. According to the Post, "in a draft document dated Nov. 15, 2006, that spelled out the requirements for the SLICC [ED Note: Senior Leader Intransit Comfort Capsules], the word "Comfort" was repeatedly crossed out with a horizontal line and replaced by a less cushy-sounding alternative, "Conference."

Oh, yeah. That's much better.

...Or not.

"This whole program is an embarrassment," one military officer told the Post on condition of anonymity. Last week, the Project On Government Oversight sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. "An egregious failure of leadership has come to our attention that involves breathtaking extravagance when every dollar needs to be wisely spent in a time of war," wrote Executive Director Danielle Brian. POGO's press release, also released last week, pointed out that, while top brass are getting their choice of wood, leather, and carpet, "meanwhile, the conventional seat pallets used to transport soldiers are in a deplorable state" -- as evidenced here, here, and here. Coming at the heels of another high-profile Air Force scandal -- and during a war that has come to be symbolized by unarmored humvees, Soviet-era flak jackets, and fast food in the Green Zone -- the executive comfort capsules are yet another reminder of just how royally the American taxpayer continues to be screwed by the bloated excesses of our military adventures.

Check out POGO's press release for a more detailed description of the amenities offered by the Air Force comfort capsules, including "a full-length mirror," "aesthetically pleasing wall-to-wall carpeting," "aesthetically pleasing wall treatments/coverings," and, of course, adjustable "ambient lighting."

No word yet on cappuccino makers. (War is hell.)

Tagged as: pentagon, war on terror, robert gates, air force, washington post, comfort capsules, project on governement ov, robert h. mcmahon

Liliana Segura is a writer and activist living in New York.