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Public & Press Release: Nonviolent Resisters Block Shift Change at Truax Military Base Monday Morning

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Madison, WI, 3/27/2023

Nonviolent Resisters Successfully Blocked Shift Change at Truax Air National Guard Base this Morning to Oppose F-35 Fighter Jets & War

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Contacts:

Janet Parker, Madison for a World BEYOND War, 608-228-9096 janetparker8@gmail.com

Joy First, Wisconsin Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars, 608-239-4327

Live this morning on Channel 27: https://www.wkow.com/news/demonstrators-gather-at-truax-field-to-oppose-arrival-of-f-35-fighter-jets/article_a526c44c-cc8f-11ed-9c13-6b59db1b26b4.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share


A nonviolent resistance action successfully blocked the shift change this morning at Truax ANG Base this morning, March 27, 2023.   More than 40 activists, including Iowa County parish priest Father Jim Murphy, took part in protesting the F-35 fighter jets, which are scheduled to come to Truax Field in Madison this spring.  These jets were opposed by the MMSD School Board and the Madison City Council.  Activists are calling on the Governor to change the mission of Truax ANG base to a peaceful one.  Today in Burlington, VT, the other F-35 base, activists are also demonstrating.

“Help us say no to war, environmental pollution, militarism, and F-35’s in Madison or anywhere else.”              – Andrea Novotney, Great Turning Catholic Worker Farm, Madison

 “We call for grounding the F-35 fighter jets, gun control at the Pentagon, and war abolition: an end to the organized mass murder called war.”

– Janet Parker, Madison for a World BEYOND War.

“We want the Governor to meet with a delegation of Safe Skies representatives in order to discuss the F-35 project and to propose a solution that will meet the needs and concerns of Madison residents and our local public official allies.  We want the Governor to negotiate with the Air Force to create a new mission for the Air National Guard at Truax Field.”

– Safe Skies organizer Tom Boswell


Statement: 

F-35 FIGHTER BRINGS THE WAR HOME TO WISCONSIN!

WE SAY NO!

We come here today, March 27, 2023 to say: ground the F-35 fighter jet and abolish war! The F-35 fighter jet is a threat to the planet. It should not be based in Madison or anywhere.

Under state law, the Air National Guard provides protection of life and property and preserves peace, order and public safety, but the ANG at Truax violates that mandate. ANG bases in several states provide emergency relief during floods, earthquakes and forest fires; search and rescue operations; medical missions. Fighter jets can’t “preserve peace, order and public safety.” They are worthless in a natural disaster.  They are not effective for search and rescue. They can’t help maintain vital public services. The F-35 is only an instrument of war and more than ever before, the ANG at Truax will threaten the lives of civilians abroad and degrade the quality of life in Madison.

The F-35, wherever it is deployed, will degrade the environment, intensify climate chaos, intensify the horrors of present wars and precipitate new ones. Due to the expansion of NATO and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the threat of nuclear annihilation has never been so grave as now. Placing the F-35 at Truax will make Madison a target in any nuclear confrontation with Russia.  But in reality, nowhere on earth will be safe.

We urgently call on the governor of Wisconsin, on the Adjutant General of the Wisconsin National Guard, on the commander of Truax Field, on the state’s legislature and congressional delegation to change the mission of Truax. We call upon world leaders to disarm and abolish war and on the world’s people to join us in this demand.







This weekend, Madison hosted the 20th Catholic Worker Midwest Faith and Resistance Gathering this past weekend, to prepare for nonviolent resistance actions in Madison on Monday, March 27 to oppose war and F-35 fighter jets.

Madison Veterans for Peace, Safe Skies Clean Water Wisconsin, Madison for a World BEYOND War are local hosts.  Madison activists are joined by Catholic Workers who converged from Missouri, Ohio, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Maryland and Wisconsin.  CODEPINK: Women for Peace are partners in the action also.

More details:

https://www.safeskiescleanwaterwi.org/save-the-date-march-24-27-catholic-worker-faith-resistance-gathering-no-f-35s/

Catholic Worker was formed in the depths of the Great Depression, 1933, when Dorothy Day and a few others hawked The Catholic Worker in New York’s Union Square. Today there are 187 Catholic Worker communities committed to non-violence, voluntary poverty, prayer and hospitality. They continue to protest injustice, war, racism, and violence of all forms.


All Posts – Safe Skies Clean Water Wisconsin

Campaign to Ground the F-35 Jet Program

Code Pink launches national campaign to ground the F-35 and cancel the F-35 program

Letter to to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin specifically mentions South Burlington and Winooski

#CancelTheF35

Sign on to the brilliant letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin put out nationally by Code Pink today, January 29, calling “for a cancellation of the F-35 program, an end to F-35 training in residential areas like South Burlington, Vermont and Madison, Wisconsin, and a reinvestment of the project’s funds to life affirming programs.”

The Code Pink letter also notes that Winooski is within the F-35 noise target zone and is “a working-class city, the most densely populated in Vermont, with the state’s most ethnic diversity.”



 

The letter will also be hand delivered to members of Congress.

As Code Pink says in its email announcing the letter,

F-35 fighter jet production was halted pending an investigation into the crash where the pilot was ejected from the aircraft. [See video and analysis of the F-35 crash in Fort Worth last month]. Now the Dept. of Defense is delaying full-rate production, potentially for another YEAR. This is a win for the people and the planet and bad news for the war profiteers at Lockheed Martin.

Read and sign on to the Code Pink letter: http://www.codepink.org/secretary_austin_cancel_the_f_35?recruiter_id=355939 

 

Link to Cancel the F35 original article 


To get involved locally in Wisconsin or to sign up for updates. 

or comment on Facebook 

Why the Pentagon Is Equipping the F-35 Jets With a Thermonuclear Bomb

Why the Pentagon Is Equipping the F-35 With a Thermonuclear Bomb
Kyle Mizokami
Fri, November 5, 2021

“The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is nearly certified to carry a new thermonuclear weapon, the B61-12.

Although the U.S. military has a variety of ways to deliver nuclear weapons, there are only a handful of ways to use them on the battlefield.

Using a crewed delivery system ensures there is a person in the loop for the entire flight who can execute last minute instructions.

The F-35A Joint Strike Fighter is nearly ready to take on a new mission, that of a nuclear-capable bomber.

The Air Force has completed the flight testing to ensure the F-35A can safely—and reliably—drop the B61-12 thermonuclear bomb. The combination of crewed aircraft and nuclear bomb will ensure the U.S. government would have options in the event of a crisis, including one where a nuclear bomb could be literally recalled at the last second.

Nuclear weapons are divided into two categories: strategic and tactical. The two main differences between the two types are explosive yield and range. Tactical nuclear weapons typically range from about .3 kilotons (300 tons of TNT) to about 50 kilotons (50,000 tons of TNT).

Strategic nuclear weapons are in an entirely different class altogether. The yield of strategic nukes can range from 100 kilotons to well into the megaton range, with the U.S. military’s largest weapon having a yield of 1.3 megatons (the equivalent of 1,200,000 tons of TNT). Tactical nuclear weapons are generally shorter range weapons with ranges of 500 miles or less, while strategic nuclear weapons are designed to cross entire oceans to strike targets on the other side of the planet.

Today, tactical nuclear weapons are delivered by aircraft and submarine-launched missiles. The most numerous U.S. tactical nuclear weapon is the B61 series of bombs, a series that has been in continuous use since the 1960s. In the 2010s, the U.S. military developed a new B61 bomb, the B61-12. The B61-12 is not only more accurate, it’s designed to penetrate earth and concrete to strike underground facilities—think North Korean underground leadership bunkers, Iranian nuclear facilities, or similar targets.

This penetrating capability allows it to be more effective at nuking underground threats with less explosive power. The B61-12, rebuilt from older B61 series bombs, has a smaller yield and in fact has a “dial-a-yield” mechanism that allows for the yield to vary from .3 kiltons, 1.5 kilotons, 10 kilotons, and 50 kilotons.

One of the most important principles behind nuclear weapons is the idea of maintaining positive control over them at all times, as much as possible, up until the moment of detonation. This is not only a safety feature, it allows decision-makers increased flexibility under incredibly stressful circumstances.

A crewed aircraft makes an ideal platform for maximum control. With a crewed delivery system, the President of the United States could order a F-35A armed with the B61-12 to strike a target, then change his or her mind if the circumstances change. If the enemy suddenly calls for peace, the strike can be called off. This “recallability” is replicated at the strategic level with bombers like the B-2 Spirit, and the F-35A/B61-12 combo offers war planners the same capability at the tactical nuclear level. The F-35A’s stealth gives it a greater chance, unlike legacy aircraft like the F-15E Strike Eagle, of successfully penetrating enemy defenses and reaching the target.

What kind of targets could a F-35A drop a nuclear bomb on? Thanks to America’s overwhelming conventional firepower, it’s difficult to see the U.S. use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear targets. One target could be the location of a Russian missile command post, nuking it to sever the chain of command between Moscow and its own tactical nuclear forces. The actual missiles could be another target. If tactical nuclear weapons are already in use, a F-35A could dial the yield down to 1.5 kilotons and strike conventional targets, such as headquarters units, supply depots, and marshalling points for conventional forces.

The F-35A/B61-12 combo will be a tactical nuclear system primarily used against military targets. Still, “a nuke is a nuke,” and the use of tactical nuclear weapons would shift any conflict into a terrifying new phase. The use of tactical nukes could very well kick off a chain of escalation that grows to include the use of strategic nuclear weapons—with civilians and human civilization itself in the crosshairs.”

 

Take Action 

Nuclear Capability by Tom Boswell

Working Group: Veterans for Peace Abolish Nuclear Weapons

Send your e-mail address to vfp.nonukes@gmail.com

 

WI State Journal, Hubbuch: Future noise concerns could scuttle housing along planned transit corridor

original link

 

useful links:

Alders for City of Madison

Dane County Board of Supervisors

Contact other elected officials – Safe Skies Website

“With its strip malls, auto repair shops and used car lots, the stretch of East Washington Avenue between Aberg Avenue and Stoughton Road shows no signs of the revitalization happening a couple of miles to the west, near Downtown.

That could soon change with the addition of a planned bus rapid transit system.

Bill Connors, who heads a coalition of real estate developers, envisions three- and four-story buildings with ground-floor retail stores below apartments, much like those that have sprung up on the Isthmus.

City plans call for high-density housing that would both provide equitable access regardless of income and support a new bus rapid transit (BRT) system that’s expected to begin shuttling commuters between the city’s East and West sides in 2024.

But with the Air National Guard expected to begin flying a fleet of new F-35 fighter jets from nearby Truax Field in 2023, this ¾-mile strip is expected to be subject to noise levels considered too loud for residential development without significant soundproofing.

The conflict has created a dilemma for leaders of a fast-growing city in desperate need of more housing: By allowing the type of high-density development that would support rapid transit, Madison could also subject thousands more people to unhealthy levels of noise.

Connors argues the market will solve the problem, as builders who don’t do enough to muffle the sound will struggle to keep their buildings full.

City Council president Syed Abbas has appointed a council workgroup to explore possible alternatives, including a development moratorium or zoning changes, in an effort to prevent a situation where poor and minority people bear a disproportionate share of the environmental impacts.

“I have to see the situation with the lens of environmental justice,” Abbas said. “If you go historically, the market decided to put all the people of color there — Black and brown folks.”

Military decision

The Air Force last year selected the Wisconsin Air National Guard’s 115th Fighter Wing as one of the first Guard units to fly the military’s new F-35 fighter jets.

There is disagreement on just how much louder the F-35s will be compared to the F-16s that currently fly out of Truax. But there would be more takeoffs and landings, at least initially, which would increase the overall noise exposure for those living near the airport.