Congress probing Air Force C-17 stayed overnight at Trump property in Scotland

I have posted many many times on that. They get free insider trading and the rules on lobbying are ridiculous.


a reply to: Bluntone22

Lol. I voted for Trump. You got TDS brutha. Bet nobody read one word of the links i posted.


a reply to: randomthoughts12

Who is anti trump? Not I. I was pissed at pelosi for wanting an af jet to carry her butt to cali when a commercial jet would do. You didnt read the articles....i can tell.


a reply to: projectvxn

a reply to: lakenheath24

Our Congress only works 147 days a year, and this is a priority for them?

Ofered free golf to whom? That would be forbidden by the military.


a reply to: Fallingdown

And....as an addendum to my above post, I wrote the travel orders for an entire Brigade including the aircrews who were the WORST offenders on their personal travel vouchers which I also processed. They would try to claim reimbursement for gifts they bought their families while TDY. I would remove them as they were not reimbursed expenses often resulting in a personal visit from some I'll mannered Captain attempting to bully me into violating Federal law. I would show him or her the regulations and if they persisted, invite them to the SGM office for further discussions, the smart ones just left, the others regretted their decision as I left the SGM office closing the door behind me and promptly placing their voucher at the bottom of the enormous pile on my desk. Usually never saw them again and they left quiet humbled.

Some where more problematic than others. All orders are produced on a system called DTS or Defense Travel System which is designed for each individual to create their own orders. However due to fraud on behalf of those people it was no longer allowed and Brigade designated one person to do so. The system does not require payments owed if it's less than ten dollars, and they never reimbursed if under ten dollars. One Major, an Apache pilot was very good at keeping up with his expenses and knew exactly what he was due. One voucher ended up owing him 25 cents.

When he didnt get it, he came to my office which was directly across from the Brigade Commanders office and next door to the Brigade SGM office. He came in with the attitude of a 4 star screaming at about his quarter. He screamed for at least 20 minutes as I stood at attention. When he was through, the Colonel and his assistant had their heads looking out of that office, SGM looking out his office, and every other person in the building watching. I think they were worried at my reaction as they knew I didnt take much, but I just took a quarter out of my pocket and put on my desk as I sat down. Took out a hand receipt and filled it in, and told him to consider himself paid in full.

He was known from that day forward as Major Quarters. He didnt make it far from my desk, both SGM and the Colonel were waiting for him. He was a good guy, but always Annalrentintive when it came to his vouchers, and never cheated either. We deployed four months later to Afghanistan. He was shot down and killed 5 months into our deployment. It's the only time I cried and there were plenty of occasions that called for it. He was someone I knew and was killed while attempting to save someone else as he was providing coverage for a medevac flight which I dispatched. The medevac made it out and the patient survived but Major Quarters did not make it back.

He didnt take that quarter that day in my office. Left in a huff about it but regulations are regulations. That quarter was still in my desk when we got back and I still have it along with other mementos to this day. I look at when I feel sorry for myself and think he should have gotten every penny owed. He gave his life so another injured soldier and air crew could get out, he was a sitting target hovering over the other bird and until they got the patient and left. His life was damn sure worth more than that quarter and that quarter itself is worth more than a quarter too

a reply to: lakenheath24

Nope

Federal gift-giving rules apply to all service members and their families. There is no distinction between wounded or nonwounded.

In general, military personnel and their family members may accept unsolicited gifts as long as they are not offered because of their official position or from a "prohibited source."

No different than buying a soldier a beer

He offers the same deal in Chicago and Washington DC and other locations.

He’s not soliciting anything at Turnberry . Trump is just extending a courtesy he gives in other places of the world .

Federal gift giving regulations

originally posted by: Sookiechacha
a reply to: DJMSN

You can make reservations wherever you wish to stay, only expectations are that it is within the authorized Per Diem established each year for that location.

Things may have changed.

If they need to stay off-base, the Pentagon puts up crews at inexpensive hotels picked by midlevel officers -- none as ritzy as Trump's resort. "Master sergeants are cheap," an Air Force official told Politico.

www.military.com...

The reality is an ops crew can pick where ever they want when they plan out a trip, just recently before I left Tinker a 135 crew moved a TDY stay from off the beach to on the beach in Hawaii. (unit budget withstanding that is, if they have no tdy money they cant go period)


when they stayed there they got govt rates.

a reply to: Sookiechacha

That's not true. It's an individual travel system. You are issued a GCC with your own name on it. No one decides where you sleep, you have per diem to cover it and chose where you stay and where you eat. I have been out 5 years so I seriously doubt it changed much

Pretty sure i am right. Its about accepting gifts from a superior. Trump.is CiC.

Anyway...the point of the OP is that military jets are landing there when they should be going to an AF base...unless it was an ife.


ogc.osd.mil...



a reply to: Fallingdown

a reply to: lakenheath24

Again no... IF (I dont know) it was a planned TDY and money is available then they can stay down town if they want, it comes out of the unit budget for TDY's.


I have seen deployed people put in a resort because that was what was available, it happens and certainly isn't the President strong arming units into spending money at his resorts.


As long as the crew satisfied the bean counters in the wing that it was legit nothing illegal happened.

ETA: Forgot to mention that crews have a great deal of latitude on planning their stop over before crossing the pond, returning from the desert several years ago happened to be on St Patricks day so the AC decided we would over night in Dublin.

a reply to: DJMSN

Before the mandatory credit card use, one could stay at Motel 6 and still recieve the full Per Diem which could be a significant amount and thus profit tax free cash. 

Yep, take the cash, stay in the local flea bag motel, eat at a greasy spoon or make your own brown-sack meals, nice steak dinner at your destination, and you're on an early start to retirement.

And honestly the money they've "saved" by mandating the card usage is probably offset by the number of people and systems employed to track, audit, enforce the per diem usage on the card compared to each clerk just handing out the allowance in cash, and it's done and over.

a reply to: lakenheath24

I just quoted federal regulations on gift giving . You might be right but I think they would’ve made more of a point . .

This is from the politico article .

somewhere around the globe. As our aircrews serve on these international airlift missions, they follow strict guidelines on contracting for hotel accommodations and all expenditures of taxpayer dollars,” Brig. Gen. Ed Thomas said in the statement. “In this case, they made reservations through the Defense Travel System and used the closest available and least expensive accommodations to the airfield within the crews’ allowable hotel rates. While we are still reviewing the trip records, we have found nothing that falls outside the guidelines associated with selecting stopover airports on travel routes and hotel accommodations for crew rest.”

The Air Force confirmed that seven crew members stayed at Turnberry en route to Kuwait, but said “it did not appear” that they stayed at the hotel on the way back. There are more than two dozen hotels in and around Prestwick, but the Air Force said Trump Turnberry was the cheapest option available at the time and below the per diem allowance. POLITICO could not independently verify the room rates cited by the Air Force.

a reply to: lakenheath24

If on base lodging is available then its required to be utilized according to JFTR or the Joint Forces Travel Regulations. On base lodging is rarely available since most bases or post have special schools which take most of the rooms. You may not have chosen the lodging as someone else on the crew did. But you do have the choice and even when on base lodging was available, aircrews rarely choose them, and in most cases a clause in your orders authorized lodging off base or post, usually included as a standard except in schools which usually required on post lodging. I was in both the Army and Air Force and the same regulations and system is used for both.

a reply to: lakenheath24

There were changes in that department as regarding to travel anyway. If you recieved a seat upgrade or paid to be bumped for a flight in the 80's it was required you turned over any monies recieved and required to turn down the upgrade. When airlines first started giving out the free air miles, you were required to turn those in as well. I relisted in 2008 and those requirements no longer applied as you can accept air miles if in a club that provides them on a card and upgrades are costing the government nothing so they are authorized as well. You can upgrade yourself if you pay the difference with most airlines decline to charge as long as seating is available. Gratuitous gifts under a certain amount are authorized as well and a free meal, or round of golf would be under that amount by far

a reply to: lakenheath24

Yeah, hmmmm...

''As our aircrews serve on these international airlift missions, they follow strict guidelines on contracting for hotel accommodations and all expenditures of taxpayer dollars,' Thomas continued. 'In this case, they made reservations through the Defense Travel System and used the closest available and least expensive accommodations to the airfield within the crews allowable hotel rates.''

www.dailymail.co.uk...

Amongst myriad other sources.

But ok, let's see what happens.

a reply to: lakenheath24

Hate to break it to you but no President can ever do anything about the debt. Congress has to. And it has to be bipartisan or it can't happen. The best thing a president can do is improve the economy to help offset the debt.

originally posted by: lakenheath24
Pretty sure i am right. Its about accepting gifts from a superior. Trump.is CiC.

Anyway...the point of the OP is that military jets are landing there when they should be going to an AF base...unless it was an ife.


ogc.osd.mil...



a reply to: Fallingdown

Ahhh but he had to give up control of the company. So now he just shares the name coincidentally.

Thanks Dems.

He actually officially resigned from the company. They wanted him to put it into a blind trust but his family can legally operate it and its within what the law requires. Most of the hotels, especially those outside of the states are officially licensed to operate under the Trump name banner with most managed by the company who licenses the name and contracts a long term lease for the facility. I am certain it's all in the contracts they sign on what he can control and what they manage. Some how I just cant imagine Trump in the Oval office with his magic sharpie plotting out where Air Force air crews will lodge, manipulating DTS to force them into choosing a Trump hotel to make a few extra thousand dollars.

As for the facility not being profitable one year but making money the next....its an old facility over 119 years old. Certainly underwent major renovations to maintain the 5 star rating, the golf courses undergo extensive makeovers each year which can be expensive so until those expenses are covered the profits shrink. A few extra thousand dollars from air crews staying by their choice will not make or break a world famous established facility and world class golf course (4 of them) profit wise, all of which were world famous before Trump ever came into the picture. There is no there there and what difference would it make ?

originally posted by: lakenheath24
Pretty sure i am right. Its about accepting gifts from a superior. Trump.is CiC.

Anyway...the point of the OP is that military jets are landing there when they should be going to an AF base...unless it was an ife.


ogc.osd.mil...



a reply to: Fallingdown

It's tough making a thread Critical of Trump, but with so much energy put into hating him for being Trump, the one's who protect him seem to sometimes go a bit overboard.

I think as a former USAF airman, this should be checked out and if it's an issue, should be reported, and dealt with accordingly. But I wouldn't assume anything bad to start with. I just don't see Trump risking everything to sell a little gas and boost profit for one business. But that is what we have investigations for . FTR, I feel like it's OK to question things, even those things.