THE NEW F-35 TRAINING PROGRAM ON THEIR WAY TO EGLIN

Guess who coming to dinner. With the construction of the new Army base at Eglin and new facilities for the new F-35 training program to Eglin in a very short timeline, there will be a massive amount of construction activity for quite some time. Also, don't forget the privatization project for the military housing program in our area. With all of this construction, which could be over a billion dollars in the next few years; we will have our own economic stimulis package.

F-35s will go to Eglin despite noise protests
By Bruce Rolfsen - Staff writerPosted : Friday Feb 6, 2009 12:36:41 EST

The Air Force is going ahead with plans to locate the joint F-35 Lightning II school house at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., service officials said Friday.
While the school was expected to be at Eglin, the Air Force did not make the selection official until Friday. The decision was stalled because of protests from some communities near Eglin where noise levels from the F-35 were projected to reach up to 90 decibels.
Maj. Gen. Charles Davis, who oversees the Joint Strike Fighter Program Office and will become Eglin’s senior officer in April, said Friday that ongoing noise measurements of F-35s should show the jets are not as loud as earlier evaluations found. Davis conceded the jets are louder than the F-15 Eagles they’ll replace at Eglin’s 33rd Fighter Wing.
An Air Force environmental assessment study of the F-35’s noise impact at Eglin found that noise from the fighter’s operations would reach 83 decibels in military housing areas and base schools. Off base, the noise would be even louder, reaching up to 90 decibels in civilian neighborhoods under an Eglin flight path.
Friday’s decision clears the way for the first F-35 to arrive at Eglin in March 2011. Fifty-nine F-35s will be stationed there by 2013, including the Marine Corps and Navy versions of the fighter.
The Air Force is continuing to look at several options to reduce the noise impact, such as building an alternate training airfield on the Eglin Reservation and improving Eglin’s existing runways so that fewer jets would need to fly over civilian communities adjacent to the base.