{"id":29863,"date":"2019-04-30T19:51:14","date_gmt":"2019-04-30T19:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/04\/30\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:31:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:31:45","slug":"the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2019\/04\/30\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\/","title":{"rendered":"The Air Force is spinning toward a $4 billion financial disaster"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/10\/11\/tyndall-sustains-direct-hit-extensive-damage-from-hurricane\/\" target=_blank>Hurricane relief efforts at Tyndall Air Force Base<\/a> will begin lapsing Wednesday due to a lack of funds, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2019\/02\/01\/air-force-to-spend-3-billion-to-rebuild-tyndall-afb-as-an-installation-of-the-future\/\" target=_blank>preventing the start of all new work<\/a> and deferring more than 120 projects planned to begin after May 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But that\u2019s just the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2019\/03\/22\/tyndall-and-now-offutts-recovery-costs-are-creating-an-infrastructure-cash-crunch\/\" target=\"_blank\">start of the Air Force\u2019s money problems<\/a>, which have resulted in a shortfall of more than $4 billion in fiscal 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2019\/03\/27\/tyndall-to-suffer-work-stoppage-in-may-unless-congress-grants-additional-funding-for-reconstruction\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Flood1.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Tyndall to suffer work stoppage in May unless Congress grants additional funding for reconstruction<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Washington has been slow-rolling a supplemental appropriation for natural disaster recovery, so the Air Force has been moving money around to pay for reconstruction at Tyndall and now Offutt. But the money is running out.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If the Air Force doesn\u2019t get that funding, it will be forced to ground combat aircraft, defer at least 61 facility repair projects at various bases and halt certain aircraft maintenance actions. Key weapons programs \u2014 like hypersonic weapons development \u2014 would be slowed down and become more costly, and non-deploying squadrons may have their flying hours stripped away, warned Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson in a March 6 memo obtained by Defense News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe need <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/smr\/federal-budget\/2019\/03\/25\/memo-pentagon-delivers-reprogramming-request-seeks-supplemental-for-9-billion-hurricane-damage\/\" target=\"_blank\">sufficient reprogramming for the Air Force<\/a> to avoid significant negative impacts on the readiness of the force to fight,\u201d Wilson wrote. \u201cThese FY 2019 budget impacts, left unmitigated, will drive negative impacts to the Air Force readiness and lethality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The money the service needs in FY19 falls into three categories:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>It needs $1.2 billion in additional funding for hurricane and flood recovery at Tyndall AFB, Fla., and Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., according to service.<\/li><li>It needs to transfer $366 million from other accounts so that it can achieve the 80 percent mission capable mandate for the F-35, F-22 and F-16, the memo states.<\/li><li>It needs permission to shift more than $3 billion in its existing budget so that it can continue funding the development of tech priorities like hypersonics and new missile warning satellites, according to the memo.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During an April 30 roundtable with reporters, John Henderson, assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations, environment and energy, said that the lack of funding will keep the service from starting a total of 121 projects at Tyndall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThese are repair projects for facilities,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s doing initial repairs on roofs, doing mold remediation, completing the demolition on buildings that are partially demolished and have standing [water]. We had 29,000 acres of trees. Seventy-five percent of those trees are knocked over and they\u2019re drying up and becoming a risk \u2014 a fire risk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Until those projects receive funding, \u201cthose facilities will essentially just continue to decay,\u201d he said. \u201cIt will leave facilities that are partially destroyed in that state. So in other words when the wind comes up, we still have debris blowing off those buildings until we get them demolished.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And although Tyndall leadership still plan on moving forward with an Industry Day on May 2, other planning efforts for the long-term reconstruction of the base will also go on hold, Henderson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lawmakers in both the House and Senate have proposed legislation that would boost funding for hurricane and flood recovery efforts, but those bills have stagnated over how much disaster aid to provide Puerto Rico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3844\" height=\"2558\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Tyndall-wreckage-picture.JPG.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-34956\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Tyndall-wreckage-picture.JPG.jpg 3844w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Tyndall-wreckage-picture.JPG.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Tyndall-wreckage-picture.JPG.jpg?resize=768,511 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Tyndall-wreckage-picture.JPG.jpg?resize=1024,681 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Tyndall-wreckage-picture.JPG.jpg?resize=1536,1022 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Tyndall-wreckage-picture.JPG.jpg?resize=2048,1363 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 3844px) 100vw, 3844px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Airmen from the 821st Contingency Response Group set up a tent city at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, Oct. 12, 2018, days after Hurricane Michael devastated the base. The Air Force has not yet received any supplemental funding to pay for natural disasters that struck Tyndall and Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, which could end up siphoning off money needed for investments in building maintenance and other priorities. (Tech. Sgt. Liliana Moreno\/Air Force)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The powerful chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., pledged to rebuild Tyndall once the impasse is resolved, but it was unclear when that might be. \u201cI\u2019m hopeful, but I was hopeful it would happen two, three weeks ago and it didn\u2019t. It will happen in some form, the sooner the better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, Democrats and Republicans are pointing fingers at each other, with the politics surrounding President Donald Trump\u2019s policies at the U.S.-Mexico border entangling the Air Force\u2019s financial reprieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/10\/29\/politicos-are-pushing-to-rebuild-tyndall-but-maybe-it-shouldnt-be-rebuilt\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"209\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1000w_q95.jpg_cf9b5a.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Politicos are pushing to rebuild Tyndall, but should the Air Force bother?<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Lawmakers are pushing the Air Force to rebuild Tyndall Air Base, the hurricane-ravaged home of its F-22 Raptor training fleet.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the need at Tyndall and Offutt \u2014 as well as the Marine Corps\u2019 requirement for hurricane relief at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina \u2014 &#8220;underscores the wrong priorities of the administration&#8221; after it reprogrammed roughly $1 billion in excess Army funds toward barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;They could have easily moved some of that to Tyndall and Camp Lejeune and kept some of the construction projects going,&#8221; Reed said. &#8220;Why are we taking $1 billion out of reprogramming and putting it at a project where the NORTHCOM commander said there&#8217;s no military threat at the border? Yet we&#8217;re ignoring serious storm damage at Tyndall, Offutt and Lejeune.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., accused Senate Democrats of \u201cplaying politics with disaster funding\u201d at the expense of \u201creal people and communities in Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt has been nearly seven months since Hurricane Michael struck Florida\u2019s Panhandle, and we are up against a very real deadline to deliver much-needed resources,\u201d he said. \u201cTyndall Air Force Base recently served as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2019\/03\/06\/the-f-22-is-back-at-tyndall-air-force-base-well-kind-of\/\" target=_blank>training hub for F-22 Raptor fighter pilots<\/a> and employed thousands in the Panhandle. Now, it faces a May 1 funding deadline to continue repairs. The time for political games and rhetoric is over. It\u2019s time to act.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Days after visiting Tyndall, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., blamed Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for impeding the needed spending bill. Scott serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe want our military to be ready and trained, but we don\u2019t give them the resources to do it\u2014and that\u2019s exactly what this Congress is doing,\u201d Scott said. \u201cIf [Schumer] cared about Puerto Rico, if he cared about Florida, he would get the bill on the floor that the president said he would sign and let it pass.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Henderson told reporters that the Air Force has been working with Congress for six months on a supplemental for hurricane relief for Tyndall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019ve done our part,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve cash flowed initial recovery and response efforts from our operations and maintenance funds that were originally budgeted for other critical needs on the assurance that we could replenish those funds through supplemental funding later in the year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>The budget shortfall<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Henderson warned that, without a supplemental, the Air Force could be unable to meet former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis\u2019 mandate to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2019\/02\/27\/with-months-left-on-the-clock-us-air-force-sprints-toward-readiness-goal\/\" target=_blank>get its F-35, F-22 and F-16 \u201cpacing squadrons\u201d<\/a> up to an 80 percent mission capable rate by the end of the fiscal year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re trying to preserve that,\u201d he said. But \u201cas we start to talk about not doing routine depot maintenance and not executing our flying hours, at some point it could potentially impact flying readiness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wilson\u2019s memo spells out a long list of effects that could occur by September 30, should the Air Force not receive additional money or permission to reroute funds across its accounts. The Air Force did not respond by press time on whether all of the effects listed in the memo could still materialize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What is certain is that the Air Force has already deferred 61 projects worth a total of $272.4 million across 18 bases in the United States and five overseas installations. On March 23, it announced that it would be forced to ground five bombers across its fleet of B-52, B-1 and B-2 aircraft this fall, and a long-term backlog for E-3 early warning aircraft maintenance would develop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, Wilson\u2019s memo lays out slightly different consequences. The account for weapon system sustainment would be cut by $600 million in order to pay for disaster relief, and up to 17 aircraft could be grounded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The service would stop full-scale fatigue testing for the B-1, which could prevent currently grounded B-1s from being returned to the flight line. The service would pause C-130J engine inductions, \u201cdrawing down our engine reserves and potentially creating readiness concerns in FY2020,\u201d the memo states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The cut to sustainment would also impact software updates for military satellites, delaying nine mission releases and eight information assurance releases, according to the memo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wilson\u2019s memo predicted a shortfall of at least $600 million for FY19 to its Facilities, Sustainment, Restoration and Modernization account, which would result in the deferment of as many as 170 projects. However, Henderson on Tuesday said that the service could not find that many efforts to delay, raising questions about how that money will eventually be found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The memo projected a $820 million cut to its flying hour program, which would result in fewer training hours for all but the most important warfighting squadrons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis may lead to grounding non-deploying squadrons, reducing flying to basic mission capable rates, curtailing non-readiness flying, and cancelling exercises and theater security package events in accordance with National Defense Strategy priorities,\u201d Wilson wrote. \u201cWe would also reduce non-OCO refueling missions and stand down one class of our Weapons Instructor Course.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Separate from the disaster relief problem, the Air Force is still working on getting permission to shift existing funding so that it can speed up weapons programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared program, or Next-Gen OPIR, needs $623 million or else the launch of the first three missile warning satellites constellation could be delayed by two years, officials have warned. Wilson\u2019s memo also stipulates that would add $300 million in cost to the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAdditionally, the inability to address $283 million in requirements to several other programs, including hypersonics, counter-small unmanned aerial systems, and Massive Ordnance Penetrator will delay the Air Force\u2019s ability to deliver critical technology maturation and operational test,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On May 1, Tyndall Air Force Base will be unable to pay for any new hurricane relief projects at the base. That&#8217;s just the start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":35929,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":7,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"4":{"categories":["your-air-force","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","left-column","home"],"primary_category":"your-air-force"}}},"categories":[7,44,8,160,114,36,19,30],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3384,3446],"class_list":["post-29863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air","category-budget","category-congress","category-daily-news-roundup","category-federal-budget","category-newsletters","category-pentagon","category-smr"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"2HBKN5OQP5GXVIM3SXP3DYTOQA","arc_canonical_url":"\/air\/2019\/04\/30\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Air Force is spinning toward a $4 billion financial disaster - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On May 1, Tyndall Air Force Base will be unable to pay for any new hurricane relief projects at the base. That&#039;s just the start.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Air Force is spinning toward a $4 billion financial disaster\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On May 1, Tyndall Air Force Base will be unable to pay for any new hurricane relief projects at the base. That&#039;s just the start.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2019\/04\/30\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-04-30T19:51:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T22:31:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Valerie Insinna, Joe Gould\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Valerie Insinna, Joe Gould\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/30\\\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/30\\\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"The Air Force is spinning toward a $4 billion financial disaster\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2019-04-30T19:51:14+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-07T22:31:45+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/30\\\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 1584,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/30\\\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/5246760.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Air Warfare\",\n\t                \"Budget\",\n\t                \"Congress\",\n\t                \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t                \"Federal Budget\",\n\t                \"Newsletters\",\n\t                \"Pentagon\",\n\t                \"Special Multimedia Reports\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/30\\\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/30\\\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/30\\\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"The Air Force is spinning toward a $4 billion financial disaster - Defense News\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/30\\\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/30\\\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/5246760.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2019-04-30T19:51:14+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-07T22:31:45+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"On May 1, Tyndall Air Force Base will be unable to pay for any new hurricane relief projects at the base. That's just the start.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/30\\\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/30\\\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/30\\\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/5246760.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/5246760.jpg.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/30\\\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Air Warfare\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"air\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"The Air Force is spinning toward a $4 billion financial disaster\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Defense News\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Air Force is spinning toward a $4 billion financial disaster - Defense News","description":"On May 1, Tyndall Air Force Base will be unable to pay for any new hurricane relief projects at the base. That's just the start.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Air Force is spinning toward a $4 billion financial disaster","og_description":"On May 1, Tyndall Air Force Base will be unable to pay for any new hurricane relief projects at the base. That's just the start.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2019\/04\/30\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\/","og_site_name":"Defense News","article_published_time":"2019-04-30T19:51:14+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-07T22:31:45+00:00","author":"Valerie Insinna, Joe Gould","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Valerie Insinna, Joe Gould","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2019\/04\/30\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2019\/04\/30\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"The Air Force is spinning toward a $4 billion financial disaster","datePublished":"2019-04-30T19:51:14+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-07T22:31:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2019\/04\/30\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\/"},"wordCount":1584,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2019\/04\/30\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5246760.jpg.jpg","articleSection":["Air Warfare","Budget","Congress","Daily News Roundup","Federal Budget","Newsletters","Pentagon","Special Multimedia Reports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2019\/04\/30\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2019\/04\/30\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2019\/04\/30\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\/","name":"The Air Force is spinning toward a $4 billion financial disaster - Defense News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2019\/04\/30\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2019\/04\/30\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5246760.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2019-04-30T19:51:14+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-07T22:31:45+00:00","description":"On May 1, Tyndall Air Force Base will be unable to pay for any new hurricane relief projects at the base. That's just the start.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2019\/04\/30\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2019\/04\/30\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2019\/04\/30\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5246760.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5246760.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2019\/04\/30\/the-air-force-is-spinning-toward-a-4-billion-financial-disaster\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Air Warfare","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/","ad_zone":"air"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The Air Force is spinning toward a $4 billion financial disaster"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","name":"Defense News","description":"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization","name":"Defense News","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","caption":"Defense News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Defense News","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews","push-errors":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5246760.jpg.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29863"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29871,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29863\/revisions\/29871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29863"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=29863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}