Someone tell me this is misreported? There is no way a county of ~500k people could need 61 helicopters, rght?
"Headquartered at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, the 920th Rescue Wing is the Air Force Reserve Command's premier combat search and rescue (CSAR) unit. The wing consists of over 1,500 Airmen, trained and equipped to locate and recover U.S. Armed Forces personnel during both peacetime and wartime military operations."
[1] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116629/quotes?item=qt1534129
Why doesn't Curiosity run on a Dell Inspiron? Why can't the President drive a used Honda Civic? Why can't the drone programs just retrofit toy helicopters?
(Hint: there are good answers to all of these questions.)
I've always found this West Wing clip interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R9kH_HOUXM
"The Federal government is Burning Money and it is your money. An actual case. One day the US Navy decided to buy a hammer, the kind you buy for $7 at the corner hardware store. To the $7 cost of the hammer, add: $41 to order the hammer and figure out how to use it. $93 to make sure the hammer worked. $102 for "manufacturing overhead. " $37 to make sure there were spare parts for the hammer. $3 for packing the hammer for shipment. $90 for the contractor's general administrative costs. $56 for the finder's fee. $7 for the capital cost of money. The U.S. Navy ended up buying a $7 hammer for $436, and who paid for it? You."
http://www.paperbackswap.com/Burning-Money-Waste-J-Peter-Gra...
I think the quote is not the main thrust of the GP point - but it's pretty hard to make any sensible comments with billions in hardware being given away.
Need has nothing to do with it.