{"id":15348,"date":"2018-10-22T17:27:43","date_gmt":"2018-10-22T17:27:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/10\/22\/battle-over-air-forces-1300-coffee-cups-heats-up\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:19:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:19:56","slug":"battle-over-air-forces-1300-coffee-cups-heats-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/10\/22\/battle-over-air-forces-1300-coffee-cups-heats-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Battle over Air Force\u2019s $1,300 coffee cups heats up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Air Force, under fire for throwing down $1,280 apiece to replace in-flight reheating cups after their handles break, is pledging to use 3-D printing to get that replacement cost down to 50 cents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is still wondering why these pricey water heaters are necessary in the first place, and plans to keep pushing the Air Force to find cheaper ways<\/a> to warm up their coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cups, which plug into outlets on cargo planes<\/a> to reheat liquids such as water or coffee, have a faulty plastic handle that easily breaks when the cups are dropped. And because replacement parts for the cup are no longer made, the Air Force<\/a> has had to order a whole new cup when the handle breaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an Oct. 2 letter to Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, Grassley said that 25 replacement cups, each costing roughly $1,280 each, have been bought this year alone, for a total of roughly $32,000. The 60th Aerial Port Squadron at Travis Air Force Base in California spent nearly $56,000 to replace broken cups over the past three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the price is rising. Grassley noted that Travis said each cup cost taxpayers $693 in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPaying nearly $700 for a single cup is bad enough, but it\u2019s simply beyond reason to continue to pay ever-increasing prices for something as simple as a coffee cup that is so fragile that it needs to be constantly replaced,\u201d Grassley said. \u201cThis latest example of reckless spending of taxpayer dollars gives me no confidence that the Air Force is taking real steps to reduce wasteful spending practices.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an Oct. 17 letter to Grassley, Wilson said that \u201cit is simply irresponsible to spend thousands of dollars on manufactured parts when we have the technology available to produce them ourselves,\u201d once a supplier either stops producing those parts or goes out of business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wilson said that in July, she ordered a new Air Force Rapid Sustainment Office to be created to find ways to develop and deliver parts at a fraction of the cost of traditional manufacturing methods. This office has recently shown it can 3-D print replacement handles for the reheating cup for about 50 cents each.<\/p>\n\n\n\t