Arizona senators John McCain and Jeff Flake sent a letter to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (DM) last week, to express agreement with the Air Force’s Total Force Training Environmental Assessment, which concluded that the any increase in annual training flights at the base would have no significant impact on the quality of the surrounding environment.
Flake’s participation surprised many due to his past refusal to support DM and in particular the A-10, which is a key mission at the base. According to emails from the offices Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, obtained by a Freedom of Information Act request, Flake went to so far to decline an invitation to be “officially associated” with the Southern Arizona Defense Alliance group in March 2014 as part of their efforts to save the base during theNDAA negotiations in Congress last spring.
That threat to DM and Fort Huachucha was so great in fact, that on May 9, Brewer military advisors discussed creating a BRAC office within the Governor’s office.
According to the email, Congressman Ron Barber, Senator McCain, the Town of Oro Valley, Marana, and Pima County accepted the “officially associated” designation.
While the City of Tucson has been less than supportive of the base, other groups like Tucson Forward have been nearly hostile. They have tried to stop the missions at DM, claiming that the noise is an environmental hazard. However, those claims lose credibility in light of information provided by Pima County to a Governor’s representative. In an email dated May 29, Brittann O’Brien reported to Brewer staffer Joe Cuffari: “Pima County proposed to add $10 million to the next bond package for noise attenuation in one of the midtown neighborhoods where many of the noise complaints originate near DM. At the bond committee meeting, the representative from the neighborhood association said that they did not want the money to be used for that purpose. They would preferred that the money be used for road improvements in the area.”
The roads to which the neighborhood association representative refers are the City of Tucson responsibility. The employ of false choices and perpetuation of a specious narrative is just one of the many obstacles the supporters of the base must continually hurdle.
As McCain and Flake note, the Air Force found that an increase in training flights at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base would have no negative impact on the quality of the surrounding Tucson community. At a time when our nation faces growing threats around the world, it is critically important that we maintain a strong national defense by providing our active, reserve, and guard units at DMAFB with ample opportunity to train and prepare for combat.”
In their letter, the senators thanked the Air Force for its “efforts to prepare our troops through the Total Force Training mission, and for its commitment to the airmen stationed at this vital base.”
It was Flake who inadvertently dropped the bomb on Tucson are resident and listeners to the James T. Harris radio show, when he revealed the Air Force’s plans to mothball the low and slow flying plane. Since that time, Flake has been unhelpful to those who had spearheaded the effort to save the plane, such as Barber and Senator Kelly Ayotte from New Hampshire.
While McCain did not come on board the effort until late, he advised O’Brien at a luncheon in May that the Air Force had enough money to keep the A-10 from being retired until after a suitable replacement has been identified for close air support. He also said that an acceptable replacement is not the F-35 or a rotary platform,” reads the email from O’Brien to Cuffari dated April 4, 2014.
The letter reads:
November 24, 2014
355th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
3405 South 5th Street
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona 85707
Re: Total Force Training Environmental Assessment
To whom it may concern:
We write regarding the revised Environmental Assessment (EA) for the update and implementation of the Total Force Training (TFT) mission at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (DMAFB).
The proposed update of the year-round TFT mission is designed to provide the active, reserve, and guard units of the Air Force as well as foreign partner nations with the ability to better maintain readiness through the utilization of training availability in Arizona. The additional sorties included in the preferred alternative will provide opportunities for military pilot training that would otherwise not occur. We strongly agree with the Air Force’s draft EA finds no significant impact on the quality of the surrounding environment from the proposed increase of annual training flights at DMAFB.
We commend the Air Force’s commitment to providing for a strong and prepared national defense through the TFT program and their recognition of DMAFB’s contribution to that end. Further, we ask that consideration of this comment be in strict accordance with Air Force regulations and ethical guidelines.
Sincerely,
John McCain
Jeff Flake