A new report found that an Air Force squadron based in California has spent nearly $56,000 to buy specialized metal coffee mugs over the past three years. The mugs, which cost over $1,200 each, are used by members of the 60th Aerial Port Squadron at Travis Air Force Base to reheat coffee and tea while they are flying refueling tankers on long missions.
The expensive mugs have a plastic handle that can easily break off if they are dropped, which happens quite often.
“Unfortunately when dropped the handle breaks easily leading to the expenditure of several thousand dollars to replace the cups as replacement parts are not available,” squadron spokesman Tech. Sgt. James Hodgman said.
Two years ago, the squadron purchased ten cups for just under $10,000. This year the cost of the cups went up as they spent $32,000 to buy 25 replacement mugs.
The Air Force knows they cannot keep buying the expensive replacement coffee mugs every time one breaks, so they are working on a solution to repair the mugs when they are inevitably dropped. According to the Air Force Times, a team of airmen is working to create 3D printed handles, which can easily be made on the Air Force base.
“The handle currently on the hot cup has a square bottom which creates a weak point on the handle so any time it is dropped, the handle splits shortly after impact,” Nicholas Wright, a volunteer 3D designer, and printer with the Phoenix Spark office, said in a Travis AFB release. “Our new rounded handle reduces that weak point. The handle we designed is stronger and capable of being printed at most Air Force bases.”
The new handles would cost just 50 cents each to make.
“Imagine you have to replace 40 hot cups each year at ever-increasing prices,” Wright explained. “It’s much cheaper for us to replace the handle on 40 cups at about 50 cents per handle rather than purchasing 40 cups for more than $1,200 per cup.”
Photo: U.S. Air Force