According to the Metropolitan Pima Alliance, there is a movement by a small group in Tucson, Arizona to close Davis Monthan Air Force Base. As a result, the MPA has joined with others to create the Southern Arizona Defense Alliance (SADA).
According to MPA, “the Tucson Forward s group has gained momentum.” Reportedly they are leading an organized, active effort protesting the operations of DM. The group was formed in opposition to the F-35. On their website they say that they are “an Arizona Non-Profit Corporation that aims to protect Tucson and its neighborhoods from health damaging noise and safety concerns related to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and other military aircraft.”
The group says it prefers operations associated with the tourism industry, which normally provides low wages paying opportunities for communities.
Tucson is the sixth poorest metropolitan are in the county, which is the reason the economic cost associated with D-M’s closure would be devastating, say D-M supporters.
Base supporters say that it is not an overreaction to think that DM is vulnerable once again as Congress has recently budgeted funding for another Defense Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC). It is. (http://www.brac.gov/). While no decision has been made to officially open BRAC up, there are suggestions that there is a possibility of future base closings.
D-M supporters believe that there is real concern that D-M is on the “hit list due to the constant negative comments made about the base.” During the F-35 hearing process, a small faction of anti-military activists made their presence known at every event, while those supporting the F-35 sat by idly for the most part.
A recent publication by the Air Force showed that D-M and military retirees circulated approximately $1.6 billion and generated more than 4,680 jobs in the local area, according to D-M’s Fiscal Year 2012 Economic Impact Analysis. The combined payroll of civilian and military personnel totaled more than $643 million in Fiscal Year 2012.
The EIA annual publication is designed to inform the community of personnel assigned or employed at the base; annual payroll of all assigned and employed personnel; construction expenditures; and an estimated number and dollar value of indirect jobs created by D-M’s presence in the community.
In fiscal year 2012, there were 10,869 personnel assigned and employed at D-M, including 7,537 military service members, 1,604 appropriated fund civilians, and 1,728 non-appropriated fund civilians and contractors.
The EIA also provides information on D-M facilities and properties. The base operates and maintains 519 buildings, encompassing 4,409,801 square feet of space. D-M’s footprint includes 6,011 acres of government-owned land and 4,578 acres of easement, rights-of-way and leased land, totaling 10,589 acres.
Of the 7,537 military service members assigned to D-M, 75 percent live off base.
“The Wing’s mission is clear – deploy, employ, support, and sustain attack airpower in support of Combatant Commanders anywhere in the world at a moment’s notice. Train the finest attack pilots for the Combat Air Forces and provide every member of Team D-M with responsive, tailored, mission-focused base support,” wrote Kevin Blanchard, Col, USAF 355th Fighter Wing Commander in the Economic Impact Analysis publication.