Homeless in Arizona

F*** these jobs!!! We don't need them if the jobs help the American Empire murder innocent people in third world countries.

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Air Force selects Luke AFB as F-35 training site

Posted: Thursday, August 2, 2012 7:37 am

Staff report

The West Valley’s dogged fight to keep Luke Air Force Base open for generations to come ended in victory Wednesday when the Department of Defense chose the Glendale facility as the home to the new pilot training center for the F-35 fighter jets.

And Jim Stark was among the thousands of community leaders, former members of the military and concerned citizens breathing a sigh of relief.

“It’s a cause for celebration,” said Stark, Sun City Home Owners Association president and retired Air Force lieutenant colonel.

“It makes you feel good, it makes you relax a bit,” Stark said of himself and other military veterans in the West Valley. “An Air Force base being near is ultimately important to me.”

The 71-year-old base was competing with bases in Tucson, New Mexico and Idaho for the F-35 mission.

“This is a great day for Luke,” said Brig. Gen. JD Harris, 56th Fighter Wing commander. “Our selection for F-35 training ensures the long-term viability of our mission of training the world’s greatest fighter pilots, which we’ve been doing at Luke for seven decades.”

Air Force officials said in a statement that Luke was chosen because of facility and ramp capacity, range access, weather, as well as capacity for future growth.

Gov. Jan Brewer said the base will initially receive three squadrons totaling 72 next-generation aircraft. The defense department’s announcement also allows for Luke to receive up to three additional squadrons of F-35s over time as F-16s are gradually retired from the Air Force, she said.

“Today’s announcement not only ensures Arizona will continue to play a leading role in our nation’s security and defense, it also helps assure the long-term viability of Luke AFB and its status as a critical driver of jobs and local economic development,” the governor said. “The base alone generates more than $2 billion in statewide economic impact every year, and its designation as a training center for the F-35 is expected to create more than $100 million in immediate federal investment.”

Leading the charge to bring the F-35s to the base was Luke Forward whose partners included officials from throughout the West Valley.

“The goal of our statewide initiative was to send a clear message to the decision makers in Washington, D.C., that Arizona strongly supports Luke Air Force Base continuing to serve as our nation’s premier fighter pilot training facility,” said Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs, co-chair of the Luke Forward campaign. “Arizona’s military industry is one of the largest industries in our state, and Luke serves as the anchor.”

Added Surprise Mayor Sharon Wolcott: “Knowing the future of Luke is secured for the foreseeable future is a huge win for Arizona and the West Valley. Hundreds if not thousands of Surprise residents signed on to the Luke Forward campaign.”

A veteran, Peoria Mayor Bob Barrett said, “Landing this agreement has been a top priority for me and our community. Congratulations to all of us.”

Pentagon officials say the F-35 is the most advanced aircraft being added to America’s military arsenal.

Glendale officials said Luke could receive up to $125 million in federal funds for construction-related projects and the F-35s could arrive as early as fall 2013.

The mission also would bring an estimated 1,000 direct and indirect permanent jobs and $17 million annually in local, state and federal tax revenues.

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Glendale's Luke Air Force Base lands F-35 pilot-training mission

by Sonu Munshi - Aug. 1, 2012 11:34 PM

The Republic | azcentral.com

The future of the U.S. military's stealth-fighter program will take shape at Luke Air Force Base, which was designated Wednesday as a pilot-training site for the new F-35, ensuring the base will remain a linchpin of Arizona's defense industry and the West Valley's economy.

The first of 72 high-tech stealth fighters, which cost nearly $137 million apiece, are expected to begin arriving as early as next fall, but the Glendale base is expected to begin spending millions of dollars almost immediately to prepare for the arrival.

The F-35 program, which has been delayed by cost overruns and safety concerns, is expected to create 1,000 permanent direct and indirect jobs in and around Luke, which is Glendale's largest public employer, and bolster its economic impact, which was pegged at $2.2 billion in 2005.

Luke had been the front-runner to become the training site because of its open space, clear year-round flying weather, capacity for future growth and access to nearby ranges. It beat out bases in Tucson, New Mexico and Idaho.

The 71-year-old base got its start training pilots for World War II and is the world's largest F-16 training base. The F-16 program is gradually being phased out but is expected to remain at Luke at least until 2023 as the aging jets are retired or moved to other bases.

Brig. Gen. JD Harris, 56th Fighter Wing commander at Luke, said the F-35 mission "ensures the long-term viability of our mission of training the world's greatest fighter pilots, which we've been doing at Luke for seven decades."

That mission, with 72 jets, would bring an estimated $17 million annually in local, state and federal tax revenue, according to most recent United States Air Force environmental-impact study, which was released in June.

In addition, as much as $110 million in federal money would go to renovate and expand Luke facilities. That work would begin later this year and would create an estimated 2,290 construction jobs.

However, those figures could change. Federal budget and deficit-reduction talks could affect the defense budget and the F-35 program.

As part of last year's debt-ceiling debate, Congress agreed to increase the federal government's borrowing ability if cuts were made to shrink the federal deficit. Automatic cuts kick in Jan.2 unless Congress takes action and makes cuts on its own. That includes $500 billion in automatic defense cuts.

Top officials at Lockheed Martin, maker of the F-35, say that could lead to as many as 10,000 layoffs, depending on cuts to its defense contracts, including the F-35 program.

Defense experts predicted any cuts would slow testing and production. Delays could ripple to Lockheed Martin vendors. Arizona has 17 companies that supply parts for the F-35, which results in 1,100 jobs, according to Lockheed.

Scott Still, president of Sargent Aerospace and Defense, one of the F-35 vendors, has told The Arizona Republic that budget uncertainties make planning tough. The Marana company recently expanded its facility, in part to supply the F-35 program.

Congress could take action to avoid automatic defense cuts by trimming from other areas of spending. Defense makes up 20percent of the federal budget.

A compromise being pushed by Arizona U.S. Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl and others would delay the automatic cuts for a year and instead save money by freezing federal wages and hiring.

McCain did not respond to questions about how budget talks might affect the F-35 program, which has been criticized for cost overruns, production delays and failing to live up to its high-tech stealth promises.

Lockheed Martin is expected to save money by building three versions of the F-35s and tweaking them for the Air Force, Navy and Marines.

McCain last year raised concerns about cost and delays. The Department of Defense already delayed the purchase of 179 jets over the next five years amid federal budget pressures and calls to address glitches in the fighter. But the Pentagon has stood by its costliest weapons-procurement program, which is expected to hit $396 billion for 2,457 aircraft and necessary military construction, according to the Government Accountability Office.

That's a 70 percent increase in costs for 400 fewer jets than 2001 estimates.

The cost to purchase, operate and maintain the F-35s over 50 years approaches $1.5trillion, according to government estimates. Lockheed Martin and other experts question such long-term estimates, which they said the government has never done before.

Defense analyst Winslow Wheeler, director of the Straus Military Reform Project of the Center for Defense Information in Washington, D.C., calls the F-35 a disappointment.

"There have been too many trade-offs in the design stage to try to accommodate contradictory performance needs by the Air Force, Navy and the Marines," he said.

Todd Harrison, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington, said the expense is expected with a high-tech aircraft.

Lockheed Martin's officials say development and production issues won't stand in the way of delivering the F-35s when the time comes for Arizona.

The exact timing of the arrival of the 72 F-35s in three squadrons at Luke is unknown, but Gov. Jan Brewer and others say it's important to avoid any gaps in operations at the base.

Luke in recent years has lost dozens of F-16s. At its peak, the base had about 210 jets and about 7,000 personnel. Today, it has 138 jets and about 5,250 military and civilian personnel.

The Air Force plans to transfer 48 of the F-16s from Luke to Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico in 2013 and 2014.

McCain and Kyl said in a joint statement Wednesday that Air Force officials will maintain some U.S. and foreign F-16 pilot training at Luke through 2023.

The Arizona senators noted the F-35 program at Luke could be expanded to as many as three more squadrons of 24 planes each. That decision would come in several years, they said.

Reporters Erin Kelly and David Madrid contributed to this article.