Case PRESSES Pentagon — No Cost Estimate for 39 Lost Aircraft, No MilCon Plan

In a tense defense budget hearing, Congressman John Carter — Chairman of the Military Construction Subcommittee and the representative for Fort Hood, home of the 1st Air Cavalry Division — confronted Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth with two alarming gaps in the Pentagon's own budget. First, Carter revealed that combat medic students at Joint Base San Antonio are living in conditions he described as "frankly unacceptable and quite unlivable." Hegseth promised to fix it — but Carter made clear the budget cannot sustain the fix. Then came the bigger question. Carter told Hegseth that three combat helicopter programs — the Apache, the Blackhawk, and the Chinook — have been completely zeroed out of the FY27 budget, despite the Army's own statement that these aircraft will operate for decades to come. The Chinook has no replacement for its heavy lift mission. Hegseth's response: "I'd like to take another look at that with our team." Later in the same hearing, Congressman Case pressed Pentagon Comptroller Hurst on the total cost of the Iran war. The Pentagon's estimate stood at approximately $24 billion — but that covered munitions only. The replacement cost of 39 lost aircraft had not been calculated. There was no military construction estimate for damaged infrastructure in the Middle East. Fuel costs could not be separated from general operations. The question at the center of this hearing was never fully answered: where is the money going? #Hegseth #PeteHegseth #Pentagon #DefenseBudget #MilitaryHearing #Apache #Blackhawk #Chinook #FortHood #JohnCarter #Congress #MilitarySpending #IranWar #DefenseSpending #USMilitary #BudgetHearing #Accountability #MilCon #CombatHelicopters #MilitaryBudgetCuts