In 1977, Pentagon Misused $52.3M Worth of Aircraft—Valued at $237 Million Today

The Pentagon used military aircraft for personal and support flights so much that it cost taxpayers $52.3 million — $237 million in 2021 dollars — a Department of Defense audit found, in 1977.

That massive misuse of the planes won the Pentagon a Golden Fleece award from Sen. William Proxmire, a Democrat from Wisconsin, who gave the awards for wasteful and nonsensical spending.

The DOD audit found that the military planes were often used for low priority missions — support and personal flights — instead of for combat training and for flights where available commercial transportation was many times cheaper.

"What we have here is the picture of every high-ranking officer or civilian in the Pentagon simply being able to request government transportation free regardless of its cost or mission — simply on the basis of rank," Proxmire said then.

While he scolded the Pentagon brass for adding substantial additional costs to flying these plane, he said the Defense Audit Service “should get a commendation for uncovering the massive misuse of government aircraft for non-essential and wasteful purposes.”

The audit found that at one Army command, 119 support aircraft valued at $24.9 million in 1977 would no longer be required if current cost effectiveness standards were applied.

It also found the Air Force often used 104 T-39 jets designated for wartime readiness training as support aircraft instead, costing $26 million in excess flying time and 24 million gallons of wasted fuel.

“It is a classic example of putting the privileges of rank and the logistics tail before the combat teeth," Proxmire said.

The #WasteOfTheDay is presented by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.