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AF names candidate bases, criteria for choosing next

F-35A sites: D-M tops the list

Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs

WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Air Force officials announced April didate bases for the F-35A. NEWS
12 that Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona; Homestead Air Re- After identifying candidate bases, the Air Combat Command
serve Base, Florida; Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth,
Texas; and Whiteman AFB, Missouri, are candidate bases for the and Air National Guard will conduct site surveys at each location
first Reserve-led F-35A Lightning II location. as applicable. Site survey teams will assess each location against op-
erational requirements, potential impacts to existing missions, in-
The preferred and reasonable alternatives are expected to be se- frastructure and manpower, and then develop cost estimates to bed
lected in the fall and the F-35As are slated to begin arriving at the down the F-35A.
first Reserve-led F-35A location by the summer of 2023.
Based on the results of these efforts, the Air Force plans to iden-
The Air Force also released basing criteria that will be used to se- tify candidate installations for the Air National Guard locations this
lect candidate bases for two Air National Guard squadrons, which summer before selecting the preferred and reasonable alternatives
are planned to receive their first aircraft in the summer of 2022. and beginning the environmental impact analysis process later this
year.
“The Air Force is committed to a deliberate and open process to
address F-35 basing,” said Jennifer A. Miller, the deputy assistant sec-
retary of the Air Force for installations. “As we progress through the
basing process, we will share information so interested communities
are aware of what to expect.”

The basing criteria for the Air National Guard bases include mis-
sion requirements (weather, airspace and training range availability),
capacity (sufficient hanger and ramp space, and facility consider-
ations), environmental requirements, and cost factors.

The Air Force will evaluate Guard installations with runways of at
least 8,000 feet and operational A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, F-16 Fighting
Falcons or F-15 Eagles against the approved criteria to identify can-

Arrive Alive

Airman Nathan H. Barbour

355th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, ARIZ. -- The 355th (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Nathan H. Barbour)
Fighter Wing Safety Flight hosted the Arrive Alive Tour at the Ex-
change April 21-22. U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Donecio Burnell-Chester, 355th Fighter Wing safety
technician, prepares to navigate an Arrive Alive Tour simulated impaired driving
The Tour travels the country using a virtual reality simulator to course at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., April 21, 2016. Burnell-Chester expe-
educate communities about distracted and impaired driving. rienced a delay in control to simulate what someone would experience under the
influence of alcohol.
“It is a drinking and driving and a texting and driving simulator,”
said Cameron Dodgson, AAT simulator and safety instructor. “It
simulates the delayed response time under the influence of alcohol
and the difficulties of texting and driving behind the wheel.”

Participants donned a pair of virtual reality glasses and were asked
a series of hypothetical questions to determine their blood alcohol
concentration before attempting to navigate a virtual course.

“Our push has been educating today’s youth and everyone in
general of the dangers of distracted driving.” Dodgson said. “If you
are driving 50 mph and the average text message takes 3 1/2 sec-
onds to send, that is over the length of a football field were you
have no attention on the road.”

After participants finished the course they were given a citation
listing their infractions, which ranged from speeding to vehicular
manslaughter.

“We all know that drinking and driving is a bad idea, but once
you actually get put in that situation, in a safe way with the simu-
lator, you can see how easy it is to get yourself or others injured
or killed,” said Senior Airman Samuel O’Brian, 355th FW broad-
cast journalist.