The , Air Force , has released a document research supporting proposed changes to journey rules over 10 military education airspaces across , Arizona , and , New Mexico, including allowing lower-altitude sonic flights and longer overnight flying hours, and expanding one coaching zone in the southeast corner of the state.
The people you see and comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Regional Special Use Airspace Optimization in , Arizona , online at , arizonaregionalairspaceeis.com, with remarks accepted through , Oct. 9.
Military working areas
The , Air Force , has scheduled a series of common hearings on the document economic speech from late August through mid-September in , Ajo,  , Bagdad,  , Morenci , and , Superior, as well as four , New Mexico , areas, with virtual trials scheduled for , Sept. 4 , and 5. A hearing schedule is also available at , arizonaregionalairspaceeis.com.
The draft statement is comparable to the 2022 draft proposal that was discussed at a number of public scoping meetings.
The , Air Force , says it has received more than 6, 600 comments from the public, state and local government agencies, tribes, aviation groups and nonprofits, including many that have cited safety, health and environmental concerns.
The service says the changes to the special-use airspaces called Military Operations Areas, or MOAs, are needed to optimize training conducted by units at , Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, the Morris Air National Guard Base at , Tucson International Airport , and , Luke Air Force base , near , Phoenix.
The proposed changes would affect the adjacent Sells, Ruby and Fuzzy MOAs, stretching southwest of , Tucson , from , Interstate 19 , to near , Ajo, the Tombstone MOA, which covers the southeast corner of Arizona and southwest corner of New Mexico, the adjacent , Bagdad , and Gladden MOAs northwest of , Phoenix, and the Outlaw, Jackal,  , Morenci , and Reserve MOAs, which together stretch across a huge swath of east-central , Arizona , into , New Mexico.
In its preferred alternative, the , Air Force , has proposed adjusting the “published times of use” for all of the affected MOAs, partly to eliminate some of the temporary “notices to airmen” that the , Air Force , now routinely issues for night training.
Among other changes in the Air Force’s proposed alternative, the plan would:
* Authorize supersonic flight speeds down to 5, 000 feet above ground level in the , Tombstone, Outlaw, Jackal,  , Morenci , and Reserve MOAs, from 30, 000 feet above sea level now,
* Add about 750 square miles to the Tombstone MOA’s northern boundary, which extends from Arizona’s southeast to New Mexico’s southwest, adding about 750 square miles.
* Lower the flight floor of the Tombstone MOA to 100 feet above ground level and lowering the floors of Outlaw, Jackal,  , Bagdad , and Gladden MOAs to 500 feet,
* For the first time in the Tombstone MOA, authorize the use of metallized filaments launched from aircraft to confuse enemy radar.
* Lower the minimum altitude for releasing flares, launched to defeat heat-seeking missiles, in the , Tombstone, Outlaw, Jackal,  , Bagdad , and Gladden MOAs to 2, 000 feet.
Residents of the affected areas object to the plan, citing potential health and safety risks from lower-level, supersonic flights, pollution from chaff releases, and the danger of wildfires from flares, despite the Air Force ’s claim that they burn out long before reaching ground.
In May, the , Center for Biological Diversity , sued the , Air Force , under the Freedom of Information Act for failing to release public records about the proposed expansion of military flights, noting that the proposal would affect millions of acres of the Gila Wilderness and other public lands in southeast , Arizona , and southwest , New Mexico.
Peaceful Chiricahua Skies, a nonprofit group with members in , Arizona , and , New Mexico, is concerned with impacts on the , Chiricahua Mountains , and , Chiricahua National Monument , area in , Cochise County , — partly covered by the Tombstone MOA.
The group said the latest plan enumerates a major rise in overall flights, including an increase from 3, 450 to 8, 000 average annual sorties, or round-trip flights, in the Tombstone MOA alone.
Overall, the , Air Force , is proposing to increase its annual flight-training sorties by about 37 %, from a current average of about 38, 000 over all the MOAs to a proposed 52, 000 annually.
” This DEIS ( Draft Environmental Impact Statement ) will be a great disappointment to the many concerned citizens who previously submitted comments opposing the expansion of high-decibel, low-level training flights over residential, commercial and wild areas of southeast , Arizona , and southwest New Mexico”, said , Karen Fasimpaur, a volunteer with Peaceful Chiricahua Skies.
Fasimpaur also faulted the , Air Force , for failing to schedule one of the upcoming public hearings in , Cochise County, despite the potential impacts there.
Peaceful Chiricahua Skies and another group, Peaceful Gila Skies, also submitted petitions in opposition to the , Air Force , plan, along with a small air park northwest of , Phoenix.
The , Air Force , statement found no significant environmental or socioeconomic impacts from its proposed action.
AF EIS Arizona Training
The Air Force  rejected two alternative proposals, most of which mirrored the preferred plan, with the exception of one that would have allowed supersonic flight down only 10,000 feet and the other would have kept the current Tombstone MOA intact.
Thunder &, Lightning Over Arizona
Performers get in a day’s worth of rehearsals before the weekend’s Thunder &, Lightning Over Arizona at Davis-Manthan Air Force Base, March 24, 2023.
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( c ) 2024 The Arizona Daily Star
Distributed by , Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
