WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd October, 2018) The US Air Force must explain how it "recklessly" spent some $56,000 on self-heating cups - at a price of $1,280 each - to reheat old coffee for pilots, Senator Chuck Grassley said in a letter published on Tuesday.
"This 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," Grassley wrote in his letter to US Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson. "This report also heightens my concern that the DOD [Department of Defense] Office of Inspector General is not prioritizing oversight of wasteful spending."
The letter cited a report on Fox news that the 60th Ariel Port Squadron at Travis Air Force Base in the state of California had spent nearly $56,000 on heated cups during the past three years.
This year alone, 25 cups were purchased at a cost of $1,280 per cup, the letter said.
A quick search on Amazon.com revealed an extensive collection of heated travel coffee mugs ranging in price from $15 to $150.
A longtime critic of wasteful US defense spending, Grassley recently sent similar queries to the Defense Department on toilet seats that reportedly cost $1,400 each, as well as $23 million spent to construct a single gas station in Afghanistan, according to an accompanying press release.
