The US Air Force needs to hear support from East Valley residents for the F-35 mission at Luke Air Force Base. Luke, located in the West Valley, is contending to be one of the key training sites for the F-35 Lightning II, also referred to as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).
It is described by the Air Force as a next-generation fighter aircraft that will be used by the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, as well as eight foreign militaries as the replacement for the F-16.
The Environmental Impact Statement team hired by the Air Force has begun to hold hearings. The first was this past Monday and a heavy majority of those attending spoke in support of Luke being the site for the JSF.
The base is losing two F-16 squadrons to Holloman AFB in New Mexico. If Luke doesn’t land the new F-35 program, then it would potentially only have two F-16 squadrons left. This aircraft is due to be phased out during the next decade.
Landing the F-35 training site mission is critical. Luke employs more than 8,000 people and serves a population of more than 100,000 base personnel, military families and military retirees. Its estimated economic impact on the state is $2.17 billion annually.
It is located in the West Valley but it has implications all across the valley. Roc Arnett of the East Valley Partnership, an organization that promotes economic development activity in the East Valley, said Luke’s annual impact is equal to holding four Super Bowls in Arizona.
Residents in the Phoenix metro area need to let the Air Force know it supports the base and this new mission for its future. Demonstrated public support is an important step in Luke eventually winning as an F-35 training site. If it does, the Air force says the project will bring $125-$150 million in construction-related projects, which means jobs.
If you support the ongoing mission of Luke AFB please go to http://lukeforward.com online and simply register your name and email. You can add a comment if you wish. A postcard will be sent on your behalf to the USAF Air Education Training Command indicating your support for Luke AFB. This takes about 30 seconds to complete.
This is a very easy way for you to contribute to continued economic development. By doing so you may actually make a bigger impact in helping Arizona’s economy than many of your elected officials.
chatmandu002 posted at 3:29 pm on Sun, Feb 26, 2012.
For those that might complain about the noise from the F-35, just remember it's the sound of freedom and the Air Force base was there before you were.
Arizona Willie posted at 10:36 pm on Sun, Feb 26, 2012.
I'm leery of building some much of the states economy based on war.
We have the air base.
We have the helicopter plants.
We have military bases and bombing ranges.
I agree people are ignorant to buy a house near an air base / airport and then complain about the noise.
But as a country that spends more than the rest of the world combined on our military and which is in deep financial doo doo --- we need to cut expenses and the military is the most bloated of all government departments.
Instead of cutting social spending on the poor and elderly we should cut about 1/3 of defense spending and we would still be outspending the rest of the world.
hamguy posted at 7:17 pm on Mon, Feb 27, 2012.
As one of the past Presidents said "Walk softly and carry a big stick" Most of Americas enemy only understand power. If they see you have a big stick, they are less likely to do anything stupid. Of course, today we have those who only lie and react due to there training and beliefs.
I welcome the biggest sticks we can muster.
Arizona Willie posted at 11:36 am on Tue, Feb 28, 2012.
No problem with a big stick -- but we have plenty of them.
And we won't even use the ones we have.
We should announce that we will no longer send ground troops in to countries that allow terrorist groups to base in their country or to keep our treaties with allies and defend them ... we will nuke that country.
And then do it.
We'd only have to do it once.
What is the point in spending billions of dollars on bombs and missles we won't use?
There is no country other than China that can mount a realistic attack upon us. The Soviet Union has been broken up.
We have more military power than the rest of the world combined.
We really wouldn't even have to nuke a misbehaving country.
We could put a mirror in orbit and focus it on any target we wished and incinerate the target like using a magnifying glass on an ant.
No radiation to worry about.
Why do we keep building weapons we have no need for? We have more than enough ships. More than enough planes.
And no country is threatening us at all.
The weapons we keep building don't work for the threat we do face -- terrorism.
And the terrorists have already won. They have us so scared we can't even get on an airplane without a colonoscopy.
I expect the TSA will soon expand to cover trains and busses too.
What good have all those billions of dollars done us?
sockratties posted at 6:13 am on Thu, Mar 1, 2012.
The F-35 is a bloated compromise that costs 3X what a strike fighter should, won’t be sold to foreign markets without a U.S. taxpayer subsidy and does not measure up to several competing designs. One size fits all is not the answer. That argument has been made and congress decided to go ahead because of clever manipulation of special interests. Blame your congress, not Luke or the Air Force. That’s what we paid for and that’s what we got.
If training is going to be based somewhere, it might as well be where Arizona can benefit. At Luke AFB facilities already exist, the infrastructure is adequate and, with half of the F-16 squadrons leaving now and the rest over the next decade, it will prevent a down-turn in the local economy. It’s unlikely that Luke will be likely to compete as a civilian facility if the Air Force decides that the expense is too great when F-16 support phases out.
Remember that F-15 training used to be a big deal at Williams in the East Valley. Much of the income was from other countries that purchased the F-15 and sent their pilots to Williams for months of training. They had entire squadrons here while American pilots trained them in operation and combat maneuvers. That’s income that doesn’t come from the tax-payer’s wallet.
Masterrogue666 posted at 6:31 am on Thu, Mar 1, 2012.
AZ Willie: Then we'd be the bad guys in the eyes of the world. A nuke isn't a "surgical strike". Innocent people would die as well as the guilty.
Japan was different. Their military was training ALL their civilians (women and children) on how to kill a US soldier. Wasn't Okinawa,I believe, where many civiians committed suicide rather than be taken by what they were told was a brutal enemy?
I'd agree to reasonable cutbacks, but we must never fall behind a possible enemy again.
wdgnas posted at 7:39 am on Thu, Mar 1, 2012.
Landing the F-35 training site mission is critical. Luke employs more than 8,000 people and serves a population of more than 100,000 base personnel, military families and military retirees. Its estimated economic impact on the state is $2.17 billion annually.
after spring training az will be swimming in cash.