$20 billion on what?!

[da_widget]

Among The Costs Of War: $20B In Air Conditioning

The amount the U.S. military spends annually on air conditioning in Iraq and Afghanistan: $20.2 billion.

That's more than NASA's budget. It's more than BP has paid so far for damage during the Gulf oil spill. It's what the G-8 has pledged to help foster new democracies in Egypt

Comments

[layweed]

And I thought my electric bill was high.

[d00ditsemily]

Keeping our service members in the a/c is the least of our worries. Why don't we stop trying to point fingers at things like this and more at our contracting and new fancy guns that we don't need?

[bord_du_rasoir]

My thinking is- most people don't read this information and think, "Cut the A/C!" Most people, I believe, read this information and think, "Is maintaining troops in Iraq and Afghanistan really worth it if even just the most basic troop maintenance is such a radically extreme ungodly expense?"

[antiotter]

The bulk of the A/C units aren't even for the grunts. Most of it was to keep the server rooms for the racks of encrypted commo gear from overheating, and to keep the computers in the Ops Center from frying. Same thing with vehicles. It's to keep the FBCB2 and the SINCGARs from melting. Keeping the actual guys inside cool was just a fringe benefit. The technicians even told us that it wasn't for us.

"Cut the A/C budget!" and next year, you'd have the same people baffled why the military had to spend $40 billion replacing fried computers and commo gear.

[ididthatonce]

[stevie_jane]

Mother of fuck WHAT.

[normaltrouble]

This has vast implications, and the "smarter" use of tents can apply to smarter use of housing ( are we really cooling down/heating up as efficiently as we could?) here, and smarter fuel efficiency and the whole 9 yards

[dreammeanyway]

A+ Shawn Colvin reference.

[romp]

+1