MCAS shares air zone study results with public, addresses compatibility
Community members had an opportunity Wednesday evening to learn more and share their thoughts about Marine Corps Air Station Yuma’s recently updated Air Installations Compatible Use Zone (AICUZ) plan, at an open house meeting held at the Pivot Point Conference Center.
Col. David Suggs, commanding officer of MCAS Yuma, explained that the AICUZ, which identifies noise and potential accident zones, is a planning document looking at how the air station, as it continues to grow, can be compatible with future city development and land use.
The plan also considers possible future changes, including the basing of the F-35C , as well those squadrons that come for training.
“We have to work as partners. The base has grown a lot since 1977, the last time we did a compatibility study,” Suggs said.
“We want to make sure that as we continue to bring in the F-35C, the public understands how much noise and activity is going to increase.”
The AICUZ plan is required by the Department of Defense to ensure transparency for developers, homebuyers and businesses, which need to understand that before any real estate agreement is made, it’s known that the area is close to and/or under military airspace.
“Those are some of the things we look at so nobody is caught by surprise,” Suggs said. “You don’t want to have a developer come in and find out they cant build where they planned. This can be a way to ensure that doesn’t happen.”
People were coming in and out throughout the twohour open house looking at the information boards set up inside the room it was held, each pertaining to different aspects of the AICUZ plan. Marines and civilian employees were also there to answer any questions they had.
Maryann Warner and Theo Bort were among those who attended the open house, saying they live close to one of the accident potential zones and just wanted to find out more about the study.
“I’m not really concerned about the crash zones, we have airplanes flying above us all the time,” Warner said. “We enjoy airplanes because we know it is our pilots going out to training to learn what they are supposed to learn.”
Bort, who has lived in Yuma for 54 years, said she supports MCAS Yuma and is pleased with such a plan because it will help both the city and the air station to continue to grow together.
MCAS Yuma experienced “huge growth” between 2012 and 2019 and Marine officials expect the base to continue growing.
In explaining the need to have the AICUZ updated, Col Suggs said Marine Corps Air Station controls 1.2 million acres of ranges, which means a lot of aircraft are coming here to fly.
The air station also has three times more operations than Luke Air Force Base in Phoenix and a lot more than the Miramar air station in California, and puts on a Weapons and Tactics Instruction (WTI) Course twice a year, which brings in about 5,000 Marines.
The air station’s current population is approximately 11,000, with an additional 10,000 Marines rotating in throughout the year. Additionally, about 21 squadrons come here every year to train for deployment.
Col Suggs is recommending that MCAS Yuma stay with the accident potential and noise zones currently in place around the air station.