Automatic budget cuts ground U.S. air force and navy planes

PENSACOLA NAVAL AIR STATION, FLA. — The U.S. air force plans to ground about a third of its active-duty force of combat planes and the U.S. navy cancelled the rest of the popular Blue Angels’ aerobatic team’s season because of automatic federal budget cuts.

The Air Force didn’t immediately release a list of the specific units and bases that would be affected on Tuesday, but it said it would cover fighters, bombers and airborne warning and control aircraft in the U.S., Europe and the Pacific.

A top Air Force leader said the branch would focus its budget and resources on units supporting major missions, like the war in Afghanistan, while other units stand down on a rotating basis.

“The current situation means we’re accepting the risk that combat air power may not be ready to respond immediately to new contingencies as they occur,” Gen. Mike Hostage, commander of Air Combat Command at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, said in a statement.

The sharp budget cuts were triggered on March 1 when Washington failed to reach a deal to rein in deficit spending. The cuts were designed to be so brutal that they would force Democrats and Republicans to reach a deal, but one never happened. That means $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts will take effect over the next 10 years if Congress and President Barack Obama don’t come up with an alternative.

As news trickled out that the Navy had cancelled the remainder of Blue Angels’ season, business owners and residents of the coastal enclave where the team is based expressed resignation and disappointment.

“I just think it’s sad that there are political games being played. I doubt the Blue Angels are even half of one per cent of the entire Navy budget,” said Lloyd Proctor, co-owner of Blue Angel Hot Tubs in Pensacola. Proctor and his wife named their business after the team 10 years ago.

“They have national name recognition and they are loved by people everywhere,” Proctor said Tuesday.

Most held out hope that the grounding was temporary and that the season could somehow be salvaged.