Air Conditioning military tents costs more than NASA's yearly budget

  • Written by Jonny
  • Posted Saturday 18 June 2011 at 15:19



Steve Anderson, a retired brigadier general who was Petraeus' chief logistician in Iraq, says that the Pentagon spends $20 billion a year just to air condition tents and temporary buildings in Iraq and Afghanistan. That's more than NASA's entire annual budget.

There's an easy fix, says Anderson: Spray tents with polyurethane foam. An existing $95 million contract to spray-insulate tents is providing $1 billion in cost-avoidance, Anderson says. But insulating tents instead of air conditioning them is still not official military policy.

It's strange when you consider what NASA can do with $19 billion, and for the same cost the military is only just managing to keep their soldiers well ventilated.

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18 Responses to this post

  1. Anonymous on 18 June 2011 at 16:02

    Or just bring em home

  2. slycoopert on 18 June 2011 at 16:44

    But air conditioning for our military is far more important then a stupid space program. Do you have any idea how hot being in a desert wearing 100 pounds of gear is? I would rather us spend 10 times NASA's budget to insure the saftey and maximum comfort possible for the people that actually matter or military.

  3. Mile2Marathon on 18 June 2011 at 16:52

    Surprising stat that! Imagine what NASA could do with a higher budget then :O

  4. Anonymous on 18 June 2011 at 17:10

    If NASA had that money, there would be humans in Mars already!!

  5. ran.hunter on 18 June 2011 at 17:57

    Thats really retarded -__- Sometimes I wonder about the military...

  6. menshans on 18 June 2011 at 18:21

    Don't go to war then!

  7. TIMMYTHEROBOT on 18 June 2011 at 18:28

    To be fair, air conditioned tents in iraq are clearly a must.

  8. Shahan on 18 June 2011 at 18:55

    Nasa could do a hell of a lot with that wasted money, anyone could

  9. Anonymous on 18 June 2011 at 22:39

    Blows your mind, doesn't it?

  10. Yehlyre on 18 June 2011 at 22:48

    That's sorta not right.

  11. Apple on 18 June 2011 at 23:32

    I can think of tons of better uses for that money, starting with NASA.

  12. Goldfinch on 18 June 2011 at 23:48

    Easy solution: Open the freezer door and stick a fan in it, blows cold air everywhere.

  13. trawler666 on 19 June 2011 at 00:58

    I support my troops, they wave black flags and wear black masks

  14. Tabasco1 on 19 June 2011 at 01:39

    simple fix just buy all the soldiers a hand fan for a pound ;D

  15. Lintire on 19 June 2011 at 02:14

    The locals get by without air-conditioning. Yeah, it's certainly terrible for the troops out there, but $20 billion is a shit load of money.

    Not that I'm saying to spend more on Nasa. Fuck those guys, for now.

  16. Ken on 19 June 2011 at 04:57

    i don't think people realize what our troops are going through

  17. Charles on 19 June 2011 at 05:46

    Gross miss-allocation of funds hooray!

  18. mens on 20 June 2011 at 14:00

    hmm why?!
    Thanks for the upload

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