by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
The Florida Air National Guard has been in Jacksonville since 1947 and that presence may extend far into the future with the stationing here of a squadron of America’s latest stealth combat aircraft. That was the report delivered Monday at the meeting of the Rotary Club of Jacksonville by Brig. Gen. Joseph Balskus.
He’s the Assistant Adjutant General for Air and Commander of the Florida Air National Guard. He and a FANG pilot along with a public information officer are conducting a series of public presentations about the possibility of a new stealth combat aircraft, the Lockheed-Martin F-35 Lightning II being based at FANG’s 125th Fighter Wing facilities at Jacksonville International Airport.
“This is a unique time in our history,” said Balskus. “The National Guard has the opportunity to get a brand new aircraft right off the assembly line.”
The squadron currently flies the F-15 aircraft which Balskus described as a “Ferrari in the sky” but the F-35 is the latest state of the art in combat aircraft. It’s a multi-role joint strike fighter “capable of going anywhere in the world on any mission.”
The aircraft combines air-to-air with precision air-to-ground combat capabilities to, as Balskus said, “allow us to go shoulder to shoulder to fight and defeat 21st-century enemies.” It will be used by the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and by America’s allies, he added.
There will be 1,763 F-35s rolling off the assembly line by 2035 and Jacksonville has made the short list of six bases after the Department of Defense evaluated 204 facilities. Balskus said the Air Force is looking at the environmental impact associated with an aircraft that can operate at 1.6 times the speed of sound or faster and he thinks Jacksonville has an edge.
“We have the best supersonic airspace in the country,” said Balskus. “There is also a great relationship between the community and the military.”
He also said the fighter wing at JIA is the unit primarily responsible for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Its most recent missions were providing combat air patrol for Monday morning’s launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour and the pregame flyover at Super Bowl XLIV Sunday evening in South Florida.
Balskus said bringing the new aircraft to Jacksonville would also allow FANG to continue to support the local economy. More than 1,000 personnel work at the facility and “They all live in the community and shop in the stores,” he said, then estimated an $80 million annual economic impact from personnel and base operations.
Balskus also said the reason behind making the presentation at civic and service club meetings and other public settings is because, “It’s important to have public input because the public is a substantial part of our success.”
Club member John Fryer, who introduced Balskus, is a retired U.S. Air Force Major General and commented, “If we’re lucky we’re going to get a nuclear aircraft carrier ay Mayport. Maybe at JIA we’ll have the latest and best aircraft that all the services will use. We can’t let the Navy get all the publicity,” said Fryer.
Club President Steve Bacalis gave a report on Downtown Rotary’s fundraising effort for Haiti disaster relief. At the Feb. 1 meeting, a campaign began to provide “Shelter Boxes” to earthquake victims. Each container arrives in Haiti with a tent, sleeping bags or blankets and supplies needed to cook food and purify water for 10 people.
“We have so far raised more than $10,000 for the effort,” he said.
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