The piece of garbage that killed the A-6 program

The A-12 Avenger aka "The golden Dorito"

The most expensive balsa wood model in history.

In the spring of 1991, U.S. Defense Secretary Richard "Dick" Cheney dropped the final bomb on the most abusive and wasted use of American taxpayer dollars to that time (Now eclipsed by the F-35 Lightening, the Zumwalt class non-destroyer and the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). The A-12 Avenger II (What an insult to the World War II torpedo bomber) never went beyond its' balsa wood presentation model made to show the aircraft to the American people. What it actually showed is the level of corruption, sexual organ sucking and criminal backstabbing that exists in the US Government. When all totaled, the American people paid 69 Billion dollars for a wooden display model.

The A-12 started out as the Advanced Tactical Aircraft Concept begun at the start of the Reagan Administration under then Secretary of the Navy John Lehman, a Naval Reservist and career liar who falsified his Vietnam service. I'm ashamed to think he even sat in my A-6 Intruder when I was a plane captain with VA-115 in 1987.

Lehman sold this piece of crap aircraft to the Navy while gutting the A-6 program of funding and ending the long era of Grumman's service to the United States Navy. The A-12 program was plagued with problems from the start and all through the 1980's it failed every requirement for naval service. But the aircraft remained alive thanks to the underhanded dealings between the defense contractors, John Lehman, several senior naval officers and the Reagan Administration. The controversy around the A-12 caused the ending of careers for several Admirals and Captains and the litigation fight over the failed project was not completed until 2014.

By contrast, the A-6F Intruder II by estimates would have cost 15 billion dollars and delivered to the US Navy a powerful, highly versatile stop gap aircraft which could have filled the void in naval aviation that was caused by the A-12 sucking of the Navy's early 1990's budgets. But John Lehman ended the Intruder program for his costly criminal enterprise.

This is a scum bag. A man who lied about his Vietnam service, who stole from the American people and left us with a piece of crap balsa wood model worth 69 billion dollars....thanks John, this award from an Intruder Sailor is well awarded to you......scumbag.