EXPOSING LEAHY’S LEGACY OF LIES: Week of Oct. 15

EXPOSING LEAHY’S LEGACY OF LIES — Part 2

SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER

Quotations from the Air Force’s official records of the F-35 Burlington Basing Selection Process

Introductory Statement:

“We are here to read to you a quotation from the Air Force official administrative record of the F-35 Burlington basing selection process and to get your response to it.”

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Concluding Statement:

“We request that Senator Leahy initiate an independent investigation into the political corruption of the F-35 Burlington basing selection process.”

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Day 1:  Tuesday, October 15, 2019

On March 28, 2013, a Memorandum for the Record was written to capture the information discussed during a telephone conversation (telecon) among senior officials from the offices of the Secretary of the Air Force (SAF), Headquarters Air Force (HAF), and Air Combat Command (ACC) on the findings from the F-35 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).  They mention that a Record of Decision (ROD) had been drafted. The ROD is the official document in which the Air Force announces the base it has selected. In this excerpt from the Memorandum, officials state that Hill Air Force Base is the choice for the active duty bases, and that McEntire Air National Guard Station in South Carolina is the choice for the Air National Guard (ANG) bases for the F-35—not Burlington.

“After the telecon with HAF/SAF ended, ACC participants discussed the contents of the preliminary draft Record of Decision, which states that the environmentally preferred alternatives are Hill AFB (24 total F-35 scenario) and McEntire ANG Base (18 total F-35 aircraft), for the ACC and ANG basing decisions, respectively. Due to the overwhelming evidence provided by the EIS documentation, A7P [Installations office] proposed the ROD recommendation to be structured around Hill and McEntire for the decision maker.”  (Admin Record #57838)

Day 2:  Wednesday, October 16, 2019

On March 28, 2013, a Memorandum for the Record was written to capture the information discussed during a telephone conversation (telecon) among senior officials from the offices of the Secretary of the Air Force (SAF), Headquarters Air Force (HAF), and Air Combat Command (ACC) on the findings from the F-35 Environmental Impact Statement.  In this excerpt from the Memorandum, officials state that critical errors were made in scoring Burlington—specifically that Burlington received a falsely high score in the area of encroachment. Encroachment refers to the number of houses in the noise zone. They say that when they originally requested information (enterprise wide look) they received incorrect information on the number of houses which were in the Burlington F-35 noise zone; and because of this incorrect information, Burlington was scored higher than it merited. The higher the score, the more likely the base will be selected for the basing.  

“To make the position, A5B [Planning office] needed to discuss the basis/reasoning for identifying Burlington ANG Base as the preferred ANG basing alternative in basing scoring model. ACC/A5B leadership indicated that there is no operational benefit of Burlington ANG base over McEntire ANG base, and that Burlington scored higher than McEntire overall due to incorrect scoring (Burlington scored higher than it should have been and McEntire was scored lower than it should have been regarding encroachment and development) during the initial enterprise wide look.”  (Admin Record #57838)

Day 3:  Thursday, October 17, 2019

On March 28, 2013, a Memorandum for the Record was written to capture the information discussed during a telephone conversation (telecon) among senior officials from the offices of the Secretary of the Air Force (SAF), Headquarters Air Force (HAF), and Air Combat Command (ACC) on the findings from the F-35 Environmental Impact Statement.  In this excerpt from the Memorandum, officials discuss their plans to brief other Air Force officials on their preference for McEntire over Burlington.

“The matter was breeched to ACC/A5B [Planning office] leadership as to how to proceed regarding the identification of the ANG operationally preferred alternative. Mr Murr indicated that he would have a follow-on discussion with Mr Pohlmeier regarding the preference of McEntire over Burlington. Once input is provided, ACC/A7PS [Air Combat Command Installation office] will direct completion of the draft ROD [Record of Decision], and submit to HAF/A7CI [Headquarters Air Force Installation office] for review.”  (Admin Record #57838)

Day 4:  Friday, October 18, 2019

The following, written in March 2013, is from the “Draft Review Document of the Environmentally Preferred Alternative.”  This is the document in which the Air Force announces their reasoning for selecting the F-35 base. In this excerpt from the draft document, Air Force basing experts recommend selecting McEntire Air National Guard station in South Carolina—not Burlington— because the F-35 noise affects far fewer areas, people, homes, and sensitive locations at McEntire, SC than at Burlington, VT or Jacksonville, FL.  

“The environmentally preferred alternative for Air National Guard (ANG) basing locations is McEntire ANG Scenario 1 (18 total F-35A aircraft).  This ANG represents the greatest decrease in the amount of acres, population, households, and receptors exposed to noise levels 65 dB DNL and greater when compared to either its baseline or No-Action Alternative.  This is also true when you compare McEntire ANG Scenario 1 among the other two ANG basing locations and their associated scenarios.” (Admin Record #57909)