Air Force to seek Silver City input

Meeting tonight on plans to fly jets deeper over Gila National Forest

A large crowd is expected tonight in Silver City for a special meeting of the Grant County Commission where the Air Force will discuss a proposal that would allow F-16 fighter jets to fly deeper over the Gila National Forest.

In a change of plans, public comments on the proposal will be accepted during the meeting.

Holloman Air Force Base near Alamogordo is part of a larger plan by the Air Force to adjust airspace to accommodate modern aircraft, since much of the available “legacy” air space dates back to the 1950s.

“The Air Force is experiencing a serious shortage of fighter pilots — the most recent two squadrons at Holloman were converted from operational units to training units as a partial means of addressing this acute shortage,” said Sherman McCorkle, with the Military Base Planning Commission, in a letter to the Journal.

In some cases the Air Force will “relinquish airspace that is no longer required; in other situations, increase the size,” according to McCorkle.

Tonight’s meeting was originally planned to be informational only, but late last week the Grant County Commission decided to include a public comment period. Speakers are required to sign up before the meeting and will be limited to three minutes each.

“I hope that they listen to what people have to say and they consider it very carefully,” said Allyson Siwik, executive director of the Gila Conservation Coalition.

“The Gila’s a special place and we don’t want to see it ruined by these 10,000 sorties over the area. This is a huge military presence in the skies above our area,” Siwik said.

Holloman has already conducted open house meetings concerning the plan in Truth or Consequences, Las Cruces and Carlsbad — the site of a second proposal to adjust airspace — but did not schedule one in Silver City. Tonight’s meeting came at the request of New Mexico’s congressional delegation after a public outcry from county residents who complained they were left out of the process.

Air Force representatives will be participating in county commission meetings in Silver City, Reserve and Socorro to respond to community concerns as Holloman AFB works to prepare an environmental impact study.