Somebody has their undies in a bunch

Seems a real-poor-turd err reporter calculated that the US Navy flyover at the Superbowl cost taxpayers $450,000.00. I suppose that if you assume the pilots were not going to be paid, the ground crews were not going to be paid, and the planes not maintained if they did not fly, you could come up with such an absurd figure. I'll cut Byron Harris a little slack, but get real. Pilots fly regular training missions. They are expected to log hours every month. Its part of being combat ready. Formation flying is part of that training. Precision is as important as the OODA loop. It MUST be second nature, or you are going to slam into your buddy or the ground.
A chance to show off is every pilots dream. To play before the crowd! Showmanship is as much a part of their world as it is the world of entertainers like the NFL. Yes they flew all the way from Virginia to Texas. That too is part of operational training, as would be an inflight refueling or two. These things are not something you learn over night and nevr forget. neither is the thrill for an eith year old of looking skyward and seeing four Hornets in close precision. That fly over may very well fuel the imagination of some kid, who when he is seventeen and thinking about college will remember that day, and in his dreams He is piloting the lead craft in that formation. But its not over a stadium, its over a combat zone in war protecting American boys, the worlds finest, Soldiers and Marines depending on him!
Thats the dream that lures fine men to the service, its not dreaming of piloting for valuejet day in and day out.
So if the pilots were getting paid anyway, the ground crews were getting paid anyway, training was going to be done anyway, what did it cost us? Not a damn thing. 100 million people watched the 44th Super bowl flyover, and those who did not feel a swelling in their chests, are traitors. (Super Bowl 1 is the only one that did not get a fly over.)
Rumors that one of the pilots got into a fight when he returned home because his wife watched it on the big screen and swore he was ogling some chick on the ground are false.