Air Force plans to expand a training program that brings scores of foreign jets to Tucson got a frosty reception Tuesday at the first of two public meetings on potential environmental impacts.
More than 100 people, many wearing black to symbolize what they see as the death of peace and quiet, attended the session for Operation Snowbird, the Air National Guard program that operates from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
"I'm here about the noise," said Katherine Ruiz, who lives at South Alvernon Way and East 29th Street, not far from D-M.
"I have a brick house that shakes when they fly in low, and my double-pane windows rattle. And they want a 6 percent increase?"
Increasing the number of Snowbird flights - from 2,120 sorties to 2,256 sorties a year - is one of four options the service is examining.
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Other options call for the number of flights to stay the same, but some would allow higher-noise aircraft, such as British Tornado jets and F-18 Super Hornets.
The environmental review comes on the heels of a study last year, paid for by the Air Force, that found the Snowbird program had been repeatedly expanded over 30 years without proper assessment of potential impacts on the surrounding community.
Operation Snowbird began in the 1970s as part-time winter flying practice for Air Guard pilots from Northern states.
By 2002, it was running year-round with warplanes and pilots from other branches of service and allied nations.
The Air Force is using 2002 as the baseline year for comparing the impact of a 6 percent increase in Snowbird flights - a sore point with many who attended Tuesday's meeting.
By that time, they argued, the program had nearly doubled in size from its founding. They want any change compared to the number of Snowbird flights approved in the 1970s.
Lt. Col. James Key, an Air Force lawyer, said in an interview that it would be tough to compare today's Snowbird operations to those of decades ago. The aircraft flown then, for example, are no longer used.
Key said 2002 was chosen as a baseline because a different environmental review, done then for another D-M program, included Snowbird flights in the number of total annual flights from the air base.
Draft findings from the current review should be ready early next year, he said.
Only a few at Tuesday's session came to show support for Operation Snowbird, which is run by the Air National Guard's 162nd Fighter Wing in Tucson.
One was John DelFrari, president of the 162nd Fighter Wing Minuteman Committee, a support group for the Guard. He believes a silent majority of Tucsonans support Operation Snowbird.
"It's like a lot of situations where the people who are for something don't make a big deal about supporting it," he said.
DelFrari said U.S. troops and allies deserve the best training they can get before heading into combat, and Operation Snowbird provides that.
Contact reporter Carol Ann Alaimo at calaimo@azstarnet.com or at 573-4138.
Next meeting
A second public meeting is set for tonight at Empire High School, 10701 E. Mary Ann Cleveland Way in Rita Ranch.
For those who couldn't attend either session, comments can be emailed to 355wgpa@dm.af.mil by Oct. 26.
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