Cost for sailing family rescue: $663,000

[unhappycamper]

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/apr/10/rebelheart-cost-nationalguard-navy-rescue/?st



The Kaufman family disembarks the Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigate USS Vandegrift (FFG 48) following their rescue at sea April 6. The rescue was a joint effort involving Navy, Coast Guard and California Air National Guard personne

Cost for sailing family rescue: $663,000
By Jeanette Steele1:22 p.m.April 10, 2014

The tally is in for the total public cost of the Apr. 3 to 9 Rebel Heart sailboat rescue mission.

Taxpayers spent roughly $663,000 to save Eric and Charlotte Kaufman and their two girls, ages 3 and 1, based on the use of a Navy frigate and four California Air National Guard aircraft.

Military officials say they have no plans to bill the family, and that the sailing and flying time were already budgeted for training.
An attempt to reach the Kaufmans through a sister was unsuccessful Thursday, but Eric Kaufman posted a morning blog item that thanked his rescuers and again defended the family's seagoing lifestyle.

U-T San Diego compiled the cost figures from a National Guard estimate of the flight hours involved, plus a Defense Department reimbursement schedule for the two kinds of aircraft used, two MC-130P Combat Shadow planes and two HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters. (Reimbursements are based on who used the service, such as type of federal or other agency. For this computation, a midpoint figure was chosen.)


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The Navy spent at least $216 grand on the rescue.

The National Guard spent $477 grand to pay the Navy for five and one half days of of 32 year old frigate.

This is why our annuak military budget is greater than the next nine countries combined,

[rafeh1]

1. the money is being spent anyway

the ships would be sailing and aircraft flying. Saving lives by Navy and NG is really the best use of them isnt it?
In my mind this is much better use of our money than the criminal and murderous Iraq war

[JoeyT]

2. Not to mention if these were poor people

that regularly took their small children into dangerous situations for the sheer hell of it, there'd be people screaming for CPS for take their kids away.