Luke AFB
 

http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/wakeup.asp


Noise Complaint at Luke AFB, AZ
> >
> > Luke AFB is west of Phoenix and is rapidly being surrounded by
> > civilization that complains about the noise from the base and its
> > planes, forgetting that it was there long before they were.
> >
> > A certain lieutenant colonel at Luke AFB deserves a big pat on the
> > back. Apparently, an individual who lives somewhere near Luke AFB wrote
> > the local paper complaining about a group of F-16s that
> > disturbed his/her day at the mall. When that individual read the
> > response from a Luke AFB officer, it must have stung quite a bit.
> >
> >The complaint:
'Question of the day for Luke Air Force Base:
> > Whom do we thank for the morning air show? Last Wednesday, at
> > precisely 9:11 a.m, a tight formation of four F-16 jets made a low pass
> > over Arrowhead Mall, continuing west over Bell Road at approximately 500
> > feet. Imagine our good fortune! Do the Tom Cruise-wannabes feel we need
> > this wake-up call, or were they trying to impress the cashiers at Mervyns early
> > bird special? Any response would be appreciated.'
> >
> The response:
> > Regarding 'A wake-up call from Luke's jets' (Letters, Thursday):
> > On June 15, at precisely 9:12 a.m., a perfectly timed four-ship
> > flyby of F-16s from the 63rd Fighter Squadron at Luke Air Force Base flew over
> > the grave of Capt. Jeremy Fresques.. Capt. Fresques was an Air Force
> > officer who was previously stationed at Luke Air Force Base and was
> > killed in Iraq on May 30, Memorial Day.
> >
> > At 9 a.m. on June 15, his family and friends gathered at Sunland
> > Memorial Park in Sun City to mourn the loss of a husband, son and
> > friend. Based on the letter wri ter's recount of the flyby, and
> > because of the jet noise, I'm sure you didn't hear the 21-gun salute, the
> > playing of taps, or my words to the widow and parents of Capt. Fresques
> > as I gave them their son's flag on behalf of the President of the United States
> > and all those veterans and servicemen and women who understand the
> > sacrifices they have endured.
> > A four-ship flyby is a display of respect the Air Force pays to
> > those who give their lives in defense of freedom. We are professional
> > aviators and take our jobs seriously, and on June 15 what the letter
> > writer witnessed was four officers lining up to pay their ultimate respects.
> > The letter writer asks, 'Whom do we thank for the morning air
> > show? The 56th Fighter Wing will make the call for you, and forward your
> > thanks to the widow and parents of Capt. Fresques, and thank them for
> > you, for it was in their honor that my pilots flew the most honorable
> > formation of their lives.
Lt. Col. Grant L. Rosensteel, Jr. USAF

Thank you, Lt. Col Rosensteel, Jr.
F.U. complainant.
Bless you, Capt. Fresques and your family.

Just like always. Build an airport 40 miles from any house and within a month a bunch Will build right nest to the airport fences and start crying about the noise. If the complainant was in a mall, they short time noise should not have bothered her.

Ron :(

There probably weren't any more letters about the fly-bys.

Good post!

:D

At least the complaintant, who himself is ex-military, had the balls to issue an apology, via the newspaper, for his complaint. On the snopes site, which verifys this as TRUE, there are two other letters (which I tried to copy and paste??), one from the commander of the fighter wing and an apology letter from the complaintant.

Earl, Snopes doesn't allow us to cut and paste text; here is a link to the article, and I take back what I said to/about the complainant above.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/wakeup.asp

Terry

Thanks for posting the snopes report. It brought a nice closure to an
unfortunate incident.